Thomas Dorian is a second year English and History student and the current Clubs Officer for DCU Students’ Union. Dorian hopes to be re-elected for a second term and is the sole candidate running for the position in this year’s election.
Having organised events such as ‘Give it a Go Week’ and cookery courses, Dorian believes the experience he gained over the last year makes him the best candidate for the role.
“I went for the role because I wanted more for students, especially on the St Pat’s Campus, with the amalgamation; I felt the campus was behind. Having seen many of the problems within club life, I want to continue to address them,” he said.
Dorian’s campaign focuses on improving club committee training, encouraging more female students to engage in sports and promoting healthy eating.
“There wasn’t any proper training for committee roles this year. There was nothing on how to run clubs successfully or what each committee position would entail. I will have a comprehensive training organised for the start of semester one next year,” said Dorian.
For Dorian, it’s about taking sports “out of the gym”. If elected, he hopes to hold activities such as volleyball and badminton every Wednesday on the St. Patrick’s campus.
“I’ve been talking to a PE lecturer on Pat’s campus about what will work for students. You’ve got to think about students on placement on every campus too and ensuring there are opportunities for everyone to have a go,” he said.
The candidate also wants to tackle the slow-up take of women partaking in club sports and exercise. This is something he hopes to work on if re-elected for another term.
“It’s about normalising sport and activity and showing people the benefits. I’m working with the CRC Officer to organise talks with various female sporting athletes to encourage more women to engage with sport,” he said.
Dorian recognises that a healthy lifestyle can be difficult to achieve in today’s world, particularly around exam time. To tackle this, he hopes to install swingball sets outside DCU’s libraries.
“If you notice outside DCU’s libraries, smokers go out for their breaks. I’m going to get swingball sets for students so they can take a break, get some air and get their bodies moving.”
Along with this, Dorian wants to continue to promote the Irish language. Over the past year he has worked with DCU’s Irish Officer to promote Irish within every club.
Dorian said he hopes to encourage international students to learn some useful Irish terms next year.
When asked how he would manage the workload as Clubs Officer if elected in his final year, Dorian said: “Some students don’t want to put themselves forward as there’s a lot of responsibility and work on top of your academic life in college. I’ve already put plans in place to manage both my roles and my class work for next year.”
Shauna Coen