The meeting is expected to be held later this month for U of R students to vote yes or no on whether to fold their union, says the URSU board.
LARISSA KURZ
REGINA LEADER-POST
After months of tumult, the University of Regina Students’ Union (URSU) has given notice that it intends o hold a vote on dissolving as an organization.
In a post to social media and its website on Wednesday, URSU’s board announced it has called a special general meeting for Sept. 24 with a single agenda item: a resolution to dissolve the union.
URSU president Hamza Rehan said the resolution is meant to test students’ confidence in the union as their elected representatives on campus.
“At this point, since we were evicted (from campus), we want to know if the membership is still with us or if it doesn’t want us,” Rehan said in an interview Thursday.
The call to dissolve URSU is the latest in an ongoing upheaval for the organization, which has been cut off from student funding in addition to the eviction.
URSU was ousted from its offices last month by the U of R, which said the group violated its lease agreement at Riddell Centre. In April, U of R president Jeff Keshen announced the university would end its student fee collection agreement with URSU, as of Aug. 31, after 35 years due to “lost confidence” in the union.
University administration has since taken over managing the U-Pass program, locker rentals, student club funding and students’ health and dental benefits.
URSU also oversees the Lazy Owl bar and restaurant, which was closed “until further notice” upon the eviction. The university’s hospitality services unit was expected to take over booking of a separate multi-purpose room that’s also managed by the union, according to a U of R statement at the time.
URSU general manager Aoun Muhammad said the university’s loss of confidence in the union, along with its expulsion from campus, is what prompted plans to put dissolution to a vote.
He said the circumstances mean URSU is “not allowed to serve students,” thus creating limited representation for students on campus — a decision he said should not be made by the administration.
“It should be a proper democracy,” he said, adding he questions the university’s motivation for its actions against the union.
The U of R has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Both Muhammad and Rehan said the dissolution vote is not in response to legal complications URSU is currently facing. URSU is involved
in several lawsuits with the univer sity, UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity, and the U of R Women’s Centre related to fee collection and distribution.
The Regina Police Service has also confirmed it is investigating URSU, but would not comment further on the nature of the investigation while it is active.
Muhammad said he is aware of the investigation but has not been contacted by RPS and could not speak to what it involves.
All fee-paying students actively registered at the U of R — or associated colleges — are eligible to attend the special meeting later this month and cast a vote.
If the resolution to dissolve passes, URSU will begin to shut down operations within 90 days and all assets will be transferred to the U of R’s board of governors to be held in trust for a future students’ union. A thirdparty liquidator would be brought in to oversee the process.
If it fails, a new vote cannot be held for another six months, advises the board’s notice.
