House of Dragons Atter
Our main focus will be housing for disabled students (or the lack of it). The only wheelchair-accessible option being 1h away from the main campus is a disgrace. It also should be available to students with experience of disability throughout their studies and not only for the first year. We will hand in a proposal for accessible bungalows to be built in proximity to the main campus! We also plan to work with the Disability and Counselling Service to establish a Walk-In-Clinic where students and staff will be able to receive support immediately from 9:00 to 18:00 for five days a week. When there is a crisis of mental health, time is essential and waiting weeks should not be a reality. In addition, we will create an art initiative to paint the University Mobility Scooters in funky and cool colours & patterns so that riding them will feel awesome. We will work on extending that project to personal wheelchairs so that they feel like riding an Aston Martin! The funding of taxi costs should also include society activities! We, disabled students, should be able to participate in social life without paying the price of a lack of free accessibility
Olivia Lalieu
Hi, I’m Liv, a second year Business Management and Philosophy student. I am standing for the position of Disability Equality Officer because I believe every student at the University of Glasgow deserves to feel seen, comfortable and supported, and that can only happen through representation of their needs, wants and values.
Disability equality at the University of Glasgow, and more broadly, is incredibly important to me. While a uni I try to get involved with charities supporting those with a disability, most recently completing a fire walk with RAG in aid of Cerebral Palsy Scotland. At home I spend a lot of time at the Neuromuscular centre, a charity which supports those who have Neuromuscular disease and their families.
If elected if would aim to:
- Increased consultation with students who use the disability serviced offered by UofG
- Provide face to face support for students
- Advocate for university wide opportunities for education and training.
Irene Alvarado Reinoso
Hi! I’m Irene, a disabled Sociology and Research Methods MRes student.
I’ve been a student at Glasgow since 2018, during which time I’ve had the privilege to represent students’ interests three times.
Over these past five years, I have also born witness to the deterioration of conditions for disabled students and staff, a process that has significantly widened already worrisome disability gaps in terms of pay, accessibility, educational attainment and more. I founded the university’s first disabled students society in 2023 to address some of these issues and provide a space for disabled students to find each other, but as a Disability Equality Officer I hope to tackle wider issues, such as:
- Demanding an end to the deprioritisation of disabled students and staff in favour of reckless growth, including the demand for real solutions to the lack of accessible lecture venues
- Greater recognition: Disabled students and staff are absent from the social imaginary of the university beyond statistical reports. This results in an unwelcoming environment that promotes isolation
- Pushing for an overhaul of accommodations. At present, disabled students must jump through bureaucratic and attitudinal hoops to access basic accommodations
Help me create the campus we all deserve!