Young Unionists question Queen’s University’s commitment to fair participation for all students in Students Union
The Young Unionists have today written and sought a meeting with Queen’s University’s Pro Vice Chancellor Prof. Gerry McCormac to discuss the concerning under representation of Protestants employed by the Students’ Union.
Chairman of the Young Unionists Cllr Mark Dunn said: “We have been made aware that the most recent information* available to Queen’s University confirms that year-on-year the Students’ Union staff are around 75% Roman Catholic. The Young Unionists have concerns that the University’s Equality Affirmative Action strategy may be failing the Protestant community at Queen’s.’
“The Young Unionists have obtained information for the year 2004-05 which shows that 28.5% of applications for jobs in the Students’ Union were from Protestants and 71.5% from Roman Catholics.
“However, despite the University’s attempt to achieve fair participation for Protestants only 24.7% of appointees were Protestant and 75.3% appointed were Roman Catholic.”
Cllr Dunn said: “We appreciate that Queen’s are attempting to tackle this anomalous situation, but we believe that more could and should be done on the Equality agenda. We have compiled a list of equality concerns for the Pro Vice Chancellor and we look forward to meeting him, learning of the University’s activity, timetables and goals in this field. We hope that the University can go some way to address our equality concerns and rectify this religious imbalance.
“The Young Unionists in Queen’s will be actively involved with encouraging Protestant students to apply for jobs within the Students’ Union. In a University where** 41.5% of full-time under graduate students are Protestant and 52% are Roman Catholic we believe that the disproportionate over-representation of Roman Catholics in Students’ Union employment contributes to the ‘chill factor’ felt by Protestants and Unionists at the University.
“By working with the University we aim to help address these equality concerns so as to make Queen’s a welcoming place for all students.’