Introduction from Holly Staynor
“I feel so proud to be able to introduce the Transforming Equality project - the first one of its kind not just for our union but for student unions across the country. I was elected as Welfare Officer with a mandate to transform the profile of equality and diversity throughout the union’s work (a daunting task as a new officer just finding my feet!)
Since then, with the help of some amazing union staff, this project has really come to life and it’s been exciting to be a part of. The strength of this project really comes from the way it has united all areas of the union. From the very start I soon discovered that many departments are already doing some great work towards achieving equality, but were missing a union wide commitment to make this work a priority. Achieving equality shouldn't just be the work of the Welfare Officer or of a few committed individuals, but something that we all need to understand and consider in everything we do.
What we are trying to achieve is simple. It’s not about giving some people special privileges, setting quotas or ‘positive discrimination’. Equality is about understanding that, although you might not feel like you experience discrimination, there are many of us that do and we can all prevent this from happening. It’s not about making everybody the same, but making sure that nobody is denied an opportunity based on their gender, race, sexuality or whether or not they have a disability.
That’s why it’s so important that the Transforming Equality project is at the heart of what we do. It’s so important that every student can access education and everything else that comes with university life and that we are doing everything we can to make that happen. In the pages that follow you can read more about how we intend to achieve this over the next few years.
However, it’s a long road ahead and this project is just the start. Some things are easy to fix - we can put more disabled access buttons on doors or fit gender neutral toilets in our buildings. The hard part is creating the cultural shift where every individual considers the needs of those who often go unrepresented. We need to work together to create a university experience that works for us all.
For now, if you’re reading this wondering what you can do to tackle inequality on our campus, I would urge you to check your own privilege. Have you been put off joining a sports team because you don’t feel comfortable defining into either the male or the female teams? Have you been shut out from joining a society because their meetings aren't in an accessible venue? Working together we can make small changes that will have a huge benefit for those students that go ignored so often.”
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