Union apologise after calling Disabilities Officer 'Disabled Officer'

Imperial College Union has apologised after referring to the Disabilities Officer as the ‘Disabled Officer’ in some of the Leadership Elections 2018 promotional material.

The mistake occurred across the booklet outlining the positions students could run for, adverts in Issue 1684 of Felix, and emails sent out to all students. The Union has since apologised for “the inappropriate and unacceptable terminology.”

The Disabilities Officer is one of eight Liberation Officer roles that students can run for in this year’s Leadership Elections. They “represent the needs of all students with disabilities at Imperial, whether diagnosed or not, and work to improve the experience for these students during their time at Imperial”. They work with the College and the Union to promote inclusivity and lobby for increased support.

Hisham Abdel Aty, the current Disabilities Officer, told Felix: “The Disabilities Officer misprint in the promotional material of the leadership elections shows a complete lack of either care or understanding from the Union about the role, and disabilities in general. Not only is it offensive, but it is simply embarrassing for the Union and those represented by it, especially when the purpose was to promote the role.”

Fintan O’Connor, the Union’s Deputy President (Welfare), told Felix: “We have apologised to representatives of our disabled community, moved swiftly to withdraw all offensive promotional content, and will tackle this mistake head on in communication to our members. Inclusivity is one of our four core values, and to prevent such errors happening again, we will be supporting staff and officers to understand the activities and objectives of our Liberation & Community Officers better.”

You can nominate yourself for the role here.