Student walkout at URSU SGM

The in-person membership had had enough of the University of Regina Students’ Union (URSU) special general meeting before any of the special business motions had been addressed. Shortly after 5:00 p.m., just surpassing the three-hour scheduled time limit of the meeting, students walked out after a motion to add 60 minutes to the meeting was pushed through. In a video, students could be heard yelling “shame” towards URSU members who oversaw the meeting. The SGM continued after the walkout.

“It was such a huge mess, it took them forever to even get started because of the technical issues they were having,” said Josiah Dondo, a concerned student who left the meeting. Dondo explained that the in-person membership walking out is “proof that nobody trusts URSU anymore.”

“The fact that we can’t even get through a motion without having our voices heard is just ridiculous,” said Dondo.

Approximately 50 students showed up in person to the Riddell Centre Multipurpose Room while about 120 attended via Zoom on April 11. The hybrid meeting setting comes after a prolonged meeting start at the March 2 annual general meeting, which only saw the resolution of three motions. The SGM kicked off with half an hour of technical difficulties. The in-person mem- bership munched on pizza while they waited.

Questions of legitimacy about the Zoom verification processes came once the special busi- different discrepancies in terms of identification.

Students who attended the meeting in person were expected to show their student ID at the not use her email, and was still approved to go.

“That’s incredibly frustrating to me,” said Heerspink. She explained it would be easy to fake liked to see things go smoother. “Everyone has a voice, and everyone has an opinion, but today I don’t think that everyone was equally heard.” ness motions began. Bronwyn Heerspink, president of the University of Regina Politics and International Studies Students’ Association raised concerns about the vetting processes to attend in person and through Zoom. Heerspink explained she thought if this was not foul play, then it was a complete oversight of having door of the event, whereas registering through Zoom did not require showing any identification as a U of R student. When questioning the process at the meeting, URSU staff members explained that students should have signed up using their school webmail account. Heerspink debunked this, explaining she did identification by pulling it off a LinkedIn profile.

Motions 10.1.1. and 10.1.2. brought forth an internal governance review of URSU. Both were both voted down after the walkout occurred.

“Would have loved to see a lot of motions be approved,” said Stenberg. “I was a huge supporter of that, because we don’t have anything to hide.” Stenberg’s own motion, 10.1.3. to increase funding to UR Pride, was also voted down.

Heerspink, the mover of 10.1.2., explained her motion was made to hold URSU accountable. “The whole point of these motions is that there is an incredible distrust in URSU, and that’s why there needs to be a third party [URSU] report too,” said Heerspink.

URSU staff explained they would send an email verifying how they vetted each of the Zoom members attending the SGM online, but the Carillon has yet to receive a response.

Style Stenberg, URSU board chair of LGBTQ would have

Justin Passmore, a member at large with UR POLIS, was not surprised with the resolution of the meeting. “URSU does not care about student groups,” said Passmore in the hallway following the walkout. “They are just looking for their own personal benefits.”

gillian massie news editor

The University of Regina provides services for individuals requiring accommodations, which includes services for students with disabilities, health conditions, illnesses, and injuries. The Centre for Student Accessibility is responsible for providing consultation and appointments to discuss accommodations with students. An advisor will help to discuss accommodation options that best suit an individual.

The implementation of accommodations has changed since the global pandemic. Prior to 2020, a student would request that an email be sent to their professors and the professors would then be responsible for providing accommodations, including booking quiet exam spaces for students – thereby putting the onus on the professors instead of on the student.

Since then, the U of R has created the Brad Hornung Accommodations Test Centre (ATC), located in College West right beside the campus bookstore. The centre was named after

Brad Hornung, an athlete who became a quadriplegic after being checked from behind into the board during his time with the Regina Pats on March 1, 1987. On February 8, 2022, Hornung died of cancer, just shy of his 53rd birthday.

The testing centre provides individuals the accommodations they need outside of the classroom, such as providing quiet exam spaces, readers, and scribes for individuals who need them. The testing centre allows students to write quizzes, midterms, and finals within the testing centre. However, students must book at least seven days in advance of their exams.

Students requiring the testing centre must log into their account on UR Accommodated and book a room, either private or shared, through the Testing Room Booking Request section. This shifts the responsibility back onto the student instead of having the responsibility being put on the professor. This has pros and cons, as students may feel overwhelmed or have advocacy fatigue about booking time slots, especially when there are no more rooms available.

I have dyslexia and have been using the Centre for Student Accessibility since coming to the more from the student receiving the accommodation which can add more stress. I think when it

I think it’s important that there are services in place to help minimize this type of fatigue that many students deal with regarding self-advocacy. I have noticed as the years have gone on that the testing centre is being used more, which means that getting a room for scheduled final exam slots is becoming more difficult. For example, this semester I went to UR Accommodated a month and a half before my final exam in order to book a private room and none were available.

U of R in the fall of 2019. I personally feel that the old and new systems have their pros and cons. The old system in some ways was more convenient for the student, whereas the new system requires comes to having a learning disability, one of the hardest things is being an advocate for yourself and for the accommodations that you require; it can be extremely draining.

This is a new trend that seems to be taking shape more recently with the testing centre as demand for the centre increases and the staffing at the centre has decreased since its recent creation. It’s important that students know that they have access to accommodations, but also understand that the increase in students using the centre has made it more difficult for students to have access to the centre during exam periods. The university should look into expanding the testing centre to make sure that students have access to their required accommodations, especially during exam season.