Jennifer Gardner
Hi hi! I’m Jennie, a third-year Philosophy student at Glasgow, and this year I’m running for Disability Equality Officer.
Navigating disability support can feel like trying to decode a system that wasn’t built with our struggles in mind. So, as someone who has been reliant on the support services at Glasgow throughout my degree, I understand first-hand how essential they are - but also the frustration of relying on an outdated system.
My Key Areas of Focus:
- Streamlined support: clearer signposting to support services (especially for prospective students), the creation of quick-reference guides for clarity, and proactive outreach.
- Accessible digital design: reduction of ‘spam’ emails; providing departments with standardised ‘Moodle’ formats; and creating a centralised student dashboard where assignments and grades are viewed.
- Focus on equity, not equality: the needs of disabled students should be prioritised to the level in which availability of various kinds of support is always accessible - whether it relates to physical, mental, or learning disabilities.
- Ensuring that students feel welcomed and listened to: the creation of peer-support networks and community-oriented events.
Ciara McCarthy
I can’t stand but I’ll stand for you!
If I’m elected, here’s what I’ll focus on:
- Making accessibility the university’s responsibility not ours. Disabled students shouldn’t have to fight for basic access.
- Sorting out the reporting process. If something’s inaccessible, it shouldn’t take ten emails and three follow-ups to get a response. I want a clearer, more transparent system that
actually works with a university that actually listens.
- Being in the rooms where decisions are made.
I’ll show up to meetings and make sure disabled students aren’t an afterthought on an agenda, we should be part of it from the start.
- Highlighting the reality of multiple and intersecting disabilities. Our experiences aren’t one-size-fits-all. I want to centre students who are Deaf, neurodivergent, chronically ill, multiply disabled and those who sit at the intersections of disability with race, gender, and sexuality. I want to centre students from a range of disabilities, and showcase the intersectionality that is also found between disability, race, gender, and sexuality.
- Working closely with GUDSS and the SRC. Disability shouldn’t sit in a corner. It should be embedded in campaigns, conversations, and change across the university.