U of R Women’s Centre sets date for annual meeting following cancellation

The University of Regina Women's Centre. (Hallee Mandryk/CTV News)

The University of Regina Women’s Centre has now set a date for its Annual General Meeting (AGM) – after its last attempt was cancelled following sustained disruptions from the event’s crowd.

The meeting will be held at the university’s education auditorium on April 16. The centre noted that due to security reasons, the event will be closed to the public, with only members and alumni allowed to attend.

The meeting will continue discussions from the organization’s initial AGM, focusing on centre’s financial and operations reports in addition to its future plans.

“In line with our bylaws, no new business will be introduced as requests were required prior to the initial AGM announcement,” the centre said in its announcement.

“Attendees will have the opportunity to engage in meaningful and peaceful dialogue about the centre’s progress and vision moving forward.”

The AGM will mark the latest development that’s generated interest far from the university’s campus.

On March 14, the Women’s Centre attempted to hold its AGM – as it faced the prospect of being defunded by the University of Regina’s Student’s Union (URSU).

A large crowd attended the meeting, and proceedings were repeatedly interrupted. The event was eventually adjourned.

• U of R investigating disruption at Women’s Centre AGM

The university has since announced it is investigating the disruption – with President and Vice Chancellor Jeff Keshen saying: “there is zero tolerance for hate, racism, misogyny and intimidation at the University of Regina.”

In a post to social media on March 24, URSU General Manager Aoun Muhammad denied URSU’s involvement in the disruption.

“By the time URSU became aware of the situation, social media was already filled with accusations and implications suggesting that URSU was somehow responsible,” the statement read.

“This narrative is misleading and unfounded.”

On Sept. 13, URSU passed three motions to hold a referendum on whether it should continue collecting student fees to support several organizations on campus, namely: the UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity, the Regina chapter of Engineering Without Borders and the Women’s Centre.

All three entities are non-profit organizations – which are not overseen by either the university or the students’ union – but do receive funding from student fees collected by URSU.

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URSU claimed its decision was based on the three organizations not complying with their respective agreements with the student’s union. The agreements include holding fair elections, conducting annual meetings and completing yearly audits.

While the Regina chapter of Engineers Without Borders is considered inactive – both UR Pride and the Women’s Centre have denied violating their agreements and have criticized URSU’s decision.