Hopes to ensure compliance with service agreement
Heading into the Women’s Centre AGM with an uncertain funding future, executive director Jill Arnott hopes to ensure the organization meets requirements for money held in trust by the University of Regina Students’ Union (URSU).
“The AGM will highlight some of (the) work the Women’s Centre has already done over the years, with a focus on how we’ve served the students and campus this past year, and hear about some of our plans for the coming year,” Arnott said in an email.
The Women’s Centre is one of three campus groups facing concerns about their funding being held by URSU, who has said the issue stems from the organizations not being in compliance with service and support agreements.
For University of Regina (U of R) student groups, their service agreements with URSU include a requirement to have up-to-date financial statements and host board of director elections and AGMs frequently, among other requirements.
These agreements bind URSU to collect funds for student groups through the U of R and to distribute the previously agreed upon per cent to each group.
The Women’s Centre’s AGM will be held on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
Arnott said those that believe in women’s rights need to “engage their spheres of influence (the people they know) to initiate the conversations that are sometimes hard but necessary.”
She said the “pushback” the Women’s Centre is receiving stems from occurring in a “time of social change and evolution,”
“There is power in numbers, it’s why they seek to divide us and pit us against each other. But I hold on to the hope that most of us are smarter and more empathetic than they give us credit for, and that is our superpower, the place from which we can act and resist,” Arnott said.
“Equality isn’t pie, if other people have it, it doesn’t mean there is less for you,” she added.
UR Pride recently held their election and presented recent financial statements within their AGM. They believe this should have brought them back into compliance with their agreement and their funds should therefore have been released to them.
“No. Zero funds released,” said Style Stenberg, a representative for UR Pride, over email. “Zero communication to us even after many requests.”
Stenberg alleged that an URSU employee has instructed the URSU board that UR Pride’s service agreement is null and void.
“If it is null and void then, again, nothing should be stopping the release of funds as we now use the URSU Constitution to access our funds,” Stenberg said.
The Leader Post previously reported on UR Pride’s legal claim against URSU.
URSU did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
The U of R’s response read, “The Women’s Centre and UR Pride fully reflect and engage the university’s values of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Our community is strengthened by their presence and services they offer, and the university will continue to be supportive of the efforts of these organizations to aid and assist students on our campus and in the wider community.”
