LGBTQ+ Students

Meet your Community Officer

Hi! I’m Derwen (She/they), your LGBT+ Community Officer! I’m currently studying for a MSc in Media, Power and Public Affairs, but I also did my BA here and plan to do my PhD here too! I’m transfeminine and bisexual, with some genderfluidity thrown in there. Queer spaces are really important to me, with much of my previous work in my FE college SU and the Independent Office for Police Conduct focusing on queer equity and accessibility.

I have been involved in campus life for a long time at this point, serving on the committees of Neurodivergent Soc (I’m currently its president!), Debate, and Pokémon Soc, receiving two society crests for this work. This means I have a good understanding about what works and what doesn’t on campus, giving me strong ideas for change. These societies form a large part of my hobbies, but I also enjoy video games on the side!

This year, I want to foster an inclusive, intersectional queer community on campus, running more regular events to help people to socialise, get support, and get active both in their community and the wider university. I also have a passion for activism and political action, which is why I am running a campaign this academic year to teach you the skills and give you the experience needed to get politically active in any way you can, while I lobby for change on campus and beyond. I’d love for you to join our community, which you can do with the button on this page! Also follow my Instagram here to keep updated about events, campaigns, and all things queer on campus!

You can contact Derwen via Instagram or email.

Derwen Fay

derwen fay

she / they

Community Officer
LGBTQ+ Students

• Increase awareness and understanding of queer topics on campus:I want to help raise up the voices of the queer community, including often underrepresented portions of it such as the bi, aro/ace, and intersex communities. I aim to do this by running events for people to forge community and work with the library to highlight good representation of a variety of groups across their catalogue.

• Influence campus and wider public life to be more equitable for queer people: I want to work to improve our campus and maintain queer rights and spaces. This includes working to tackle toilet access in light of the EHRC guidance, lobbying for easier pathways for trans students to change their name and pronouns on university systems, trying to make the curriculum more queer inclusive, and so much more! If you want to get involved in this kind of work, reach out and I’ll try to include you in any way I can!

• Foster queer community: I want to work with LGBT+ Soc to foster a queer community on campus. I see my role in this being someone you can talk to about issues and achievements, a role I will fulfil with regular informal social sessions where you can come and chat. I also want to help people explore queerness by running a queer media group where we watch films/read books which we can discuss together. All of this is able to be tailored by you, and I want to be open and receptive to what you want to see!