QUB Students' Union criticised over Hillary Clinton ceremony – but others welcome appointment
Olivia Fletcher
The Students’ Union has been criticised by some students for attending the ceremony to install Hillary Clinton as Queen’s University Belfast’s 11th chancellor in Whitla Hall on Friday.
The SU president, Katie Ní Chléire, participated in the ceremony as a member of the University’s Senate and delivered an excerpt from the University’s charter.
She also said onstage: “Secretary Clinton has the qualities, the skills and the experience to lead Queen’s on the next stage of our ambitious journey.
“Secretary Clinton, we are delighted that you have accepted the position as our chancellor and we wish you every success.”
She then said, “We wish you every success in your role as Chancellor” in Irish.
“Secretary Clinton, we are delighted that you have accepted the position,” the SU president said
But the SU council passed a motion in January 2020 which said: “This council opposes the appointment of Hillary Rodham Clinton as chancellor of Queen’s University Belfast.”
It mandates the SU to boycott meetings, receptions and events with Ms Clinton.
Reasons for the boycott include claims of her “inherently racist and inhumane policies regarding South Americans seeking asylum and migrating to the US” and that Ms Clinton “is known to have used drone strikes to attack its foreign ‘enemies’, killing many civilians”.
An amendment to the motion allowed for SU attendance at graduation ceremonies, and the event did see honorary degrees being bestowed on a number of high profile guests.
In a comment to The Scoop, Ní Chléire said: “The event on Friday 24 September included the presentation of Honorary Degrees. The Student Officer team do not intend to attend or host any meetings directly with the Chancellor.
“It is recognised that the attendance of the Chancellor generated a lot of attention from the media, from politicians and other groups.
“The student officers leveraged this attention to lobby attendees in-person to support urgent student priorities, including climate change, student mental health, a fair COVID recovery for all in Society and for proper investment in higher education.”
Ciaran O’Brien, who was on the sabbatical officer team with Ní Chléire when the motion was passed, said: "I was ultimately left disappointed by the news that the new SU officer team met with war criminal Clinton. I immediately recalled from my time the excellent debates and policy that emerged during my year on council in relation to Hillary’s appointment as Chancellor.
Access to the event was limited… and not all students who wanted to could get in
“So it's sad to think that council policy is undermined so easily, and ultimately student democracy alongside it. It doesn't really encourage students to get involved in student democracy. I would find it discouraging.”
But with the demand to get into the Whitla Hall high – and many being turned away – other students welcome Ms Clinton being installed as the new Chancellor.
The university’s “Student of the Year”, Yi Kang Choo, who attended the ceremony in recognition of the welfare task force he set up for more than 1,200 Malaysian students abroad during the pandemic, said: “I think the installation and honorary graduation ceremony was truly an inspiring and heart-warming event.”
He told The Scoop: “In my opinion, especially as an international student and recent graduate, I think Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton would be a good ambassador and Chancellor for Queen’s.
“She is not only an internationally recognised public servant with almost five decades in public service; most importantly, with her long-standing commitment to peace, stability and economic regeneration, she is (and has always been) a strong advocate for Northern Ireland and an inspirational role model for the Queen’s community.
“I think this would make her one of the best people to represent and introduce Queen’s and Northern Ireland to prospective and talented students worldwide.”
Inside the Whitla Hall, the University’s first female chancellor said to staff and students in attendance that she is “looking forward to learning much more about this university and then helping to tell the university’s exciting story about the future you will create together”.
Secretary Clinton said she is “looking forward to learning more about this university”
And among those who received honorary degrees from the new chancellor were Lisa McGee, who wrote and created Derry Girls, and former PSNI Chief Constable, Sir George Hamilton QPM.
Ms Clinton also conferred honorary degrees on some of the co-founders and members of the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition.
The former US presidential candidate was appointed in January 2020 after the death of Dr Tom Moran, the previous chancellor, in 2018.
In an email to students on her appointment, the university said Clinton is a “strong advocate for Northern Ireland and an inspirational role model for the Queen's community”.
The new chancellor said in her speech: “Northern Ireland has become a symbol of transcending division and building peace.”
Ms Clinton was due to visit the university in April 2020 but couldn’t due to Covid-19 restrictions.
She will hold office for three more years, with her five-year tenure commencing in January last year – but her time in the role can be extended for one further period of five years by the University Senate.
And the chancellor’s role is purely ceremonial, according to the university’s charter.
Olivia Fletcher is The Scoop’s editor