UCD Vet Equality, Diversity & Inclusion and Athena SWAN Update
The School’s Equality, Diversity & Inclusion and Athena SWAN (VetEDIAS) Committee organises many events and initiatives which support our agenda of promoting gender equality, diversity and inclusion for all faculty, staff and students. Below, we provide you with updates on some recent and upcoming events and initiatives which have been organised by the VetEDIAS Committee. Find out more about the work of the committee and upcoming events on our website: https://www.ucd.ie/vetmed/about/athenaswan/
Athena SWAN Silver Award
We are delighted to announce that the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine has been awarded a Silver Athena SWAN award for demonstrating its commitment to improving gender equality for those working and studying in the School. This is recognition of the hard work put in by staff and students across the School in creating an environment where equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is paramount.
A huge thank you to our VetEDIAS committee, co-chairs Assoc Prof Cliona Skelly and Prof Stephen Gordon, Project Coordinator Eimear Burkley and staff and students who contributed over the past 5 years. Our School has received only the second departmental Silver award in UCD, following the success of our colleagues in the School of Agriculture and Food Science in 2023. The Athena SWAN Silver Action Plan for 2024-2028 provides the framework for our next steps on the Athena SWAN journey.
For more on the Silver Athena SWAN Award, please click here.
Pride 2024
On 27 February, the School hosted the annual College of Health and Agricultural Sciences (CHAS) Pride event. Since 2019, this event has grown into a flagship event for the School of Veterinary Medicine and has since been replicated across UCD.
The UCD EDI Unit and UCD LGBTI Subgroup kindly organised for a cake, decorations and rainbow lanyards to be provided to each college to host their own events. The date was chosen to coincide with UCD Students Union's 2nd annual Pride march for Rainbow Week, 20 - 29 February. This was also Dean Rory Breathnach’s first Pride event as Head of School, and was a great opportunity to address staff and students from across CHAS and UCD before heading into a busy exam season.
For more on this event and others, check out our Vet EDI/Athena SWAN Instagram account: (opens in a new window)https://www.instagram.com/ucdvetedias/
Neurodiversity Celebration 2024
On 18 April, UCD EDI hosted a Neurodiversity Inclusion celebration and launch of the ‘Making UCD a Neurodiversity Friendly Campus’ report: https://www.ucd.ie/equality/support/neurodiversity/report/
Speakers at the event included award winning writer, actor and director Stefanie Preissner, experts and leaders from ADHD Ireland, ASPIRE, Dyslexia Association Ireland, Dyspraxia CDC Ireland, and Neurodiversity Ireland who shared good practice in this area.
UCD staff showcased neurodiversity friendly initiatives and launched a Neurodiversity Employee Network. Dr Maria Mulholland from the School of Veterinary Medicine is a member of the UCD EDI Neurodiversity working group and a co-founder of the Neurodiversity Employee Network. The Network is open to neurodivergent staff, parents of neurodivergent children, neurodivergent families, friends and allies.