Dave Carey Equality Officer

I’m a English Masters student having graduated from UCC in History and English. Guess I couldn’t get enough of the place! Having spent 3 years doing a degree here and now another as a post-grad I feel I have developed a good sense of the inequalities that exist within UCC which is why I jumped at the chance to take on this role and attempt to improve university life for students.

However, I don’t take on this task alone! I have 5 sub-officers working with me. They represent the groups of international students,  mature students, gender equality, LGBT rights and disability rights. I’m really excited that these new roles exist as it allows greater representation for any student that falls into any of these areas. However, with it being the first time the roles exist it also means a lot of work to get everything going and defining our roles so that they can continue and improve in future years and for your future officers.

As for the role actually involves, I sit on the Students Union Executive where I raise any issues arising from any of the equality sections. I also chair the Equality Working Group which is where we decide what campaigns to pursue and how we can run them. Any student interested in helping out with those campaigns is welcome to join the group so feel free to get in contact and come along! I am also the deputy of the Welfare Working Group which is run by the welfare officers and serves the same purpose but with regards to welfare issues.

In my time in UCC I have been pretty heavily involved in Clubs, Societies and the Union ranging from Recording Secretary to PRO to Class Rep. So I have a pretty broad background of university life. So if you have any questions or want to get involved get in contact at equality@uccsu.ie.

Originally published in the 23/11/2010 edition of the UCC Express