

The Union last week admitted it did not realise the Disabled Students’ Officers had left UCL months ago, raising questions about the state of communications between the University, the Union, and its elected officers.
Equity and Inclusion Officer Eda Yildirimkaya told the Activities Zone last Monday that she would be taking over the role of Disabled Students Officer in an interim capacity after the Union came to realise the officers had both left the University.
The Disabled Students’ Officers, Philip Grerger and Suzanna Chen, won the position on a joint ticket, promising to “rebuild and revitalise the disabled student’s [sic] network after a year of inactivity”.
But the Equity Officer alleged that the pair did not reply to numerous emails across the entirety of the first term and only learned in January that the officers no longer attend UCL. She did not say why they had left or why it took the Union so long to realise this.
The incident has raised concern about the extent to which there is proper communication between the Union and UCL, which are operationally and legally distinct entities.
It also raised questions regarding the Union’s democratic process, with the officers’ lack of responsiveness mimicking a wider culture of poor communication between sabbs and representatives.
The job-sharing officers promised the creation of “specific groups/support systems for specific conditions”, the running of “weekly/biweekly socials and drop-ins” and the revitalisation of the Disabled Student Network’s Discord channel in their manifesto. It is now the responsibility of Yildirimkaya to implement these commitments.
When the position is occupied, the Disabled Students’ Officer is in charge of coordinating the Disabled Students’ Network, the Union body that “promotes the interests of disabled students” at UCL by “fight[ing] discrimination and coordina[ting] campaigns” related to issues faced by their community.
A Union spokesperson said: “We are hugely grateful for the work of the student volunteers who put themselves forward to be Officers. These volunteer roles are undertaken alongside a students’ studies and occasionally their circumstances change.
“In cases where a Student Officer cannot undertake their role, their portfolio is deferred to the relevant Sabbatical Officer with wider support from their staff team. In this case, our Equity and Inclusion Officer will make sure the voices of disabled students are heard across UCL.”