Disabled Students’ Officer is one of seven part-time roles on the Guild officer team. The position involves ‘represent[ing] and campaign[ing] for inclusivity, accessibility and equal rights for disabled students at UoB and the Guild’, as well as attending the Liberation and Welfare Committee and supporting the work of Disability and Mental Health Association.

Kai Brien is one of two candidates running for this position. Also running is Imogen Mann, although Redbrick received no reply from Imogen when reaching out to offer an interview.

You can find out more information about candidates, and vote in the Guild Elections here.

 

Kai Brien (he/him) 

 

Kai Brien is running for disabled officer. Brien is a Law student planning to become an international human rights lawyer and he has previously done work experience with the government’s legal department. Brien has also been an ambassador for spinal cord injury charity Back Up. 

His mission is to ‘ensure a diverse population in higher education […] my aim as disability officer would be overall to dismantle all the barriers that prevent far too many individuals from benefiting and progressing within higher education. 

I really want to inspire and make disabled students really want to come to UoB

‘I really want to inspire and make disabled students really want to come to UoB [University of Birmingham] because they know that at UoB we foster a culture where we take our passion for engagement, inclusivity and participation as serious as our duty to deliver and make sure everyone has an enriching experience.’ 

He also wants to ‘ensure inclusivity in wider activities, clubs, societies and programs […] so those disabled students can participate fully without feeling left out or held back in anyway.’ This is to ‘make students feel socially connected and fulfilled.’ 

Furthermore, Brien plans to ‘guarantee mentoring support for everyone who deserves it and everyone who wants it.’ He said that mentoring is important to ‘ensure that disabled students are really supported to succeed in an inclusive higher education environment.’ 

I might not know the answers to everything but I will ask the right questions

Brien also thinks that his connections to charities such as Back Up and Matt Hampson Foundation as well as being a member of the Disabled and Mental Health Students’ Association set him apart from others. He will ‘utilise [his] charitable connections to bring everything together. 

Finally, he wants to engage with all disabled students by ‘provid[ing] a greater intersectional approach […] I will work closely with everyone else at UoB to really provide a multifaceted response. I might not know the answers to everything but I will ask the right questions, seek the right support and make sure everyone can have the best support out there by working together.’

 

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