‘We were never expecting this’: URSU VP says eviction was too sudden

The University of Regina Students’ Union (URSU) is objecting to the University of Regina’s decision to evict it from campus, which was announced on Friday.

Jwalant Patel, URSU’s vice president, said the decision came too quickly and did not follow proper protocol.

URSU is required to vacate its office and commercial space on campus, including the Lazy Owl Bar and the multi-purpose room.

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• Students at U of R raise concerns over student union URSU

Patel said URSU was told to only retrieve personal property between Monday and Wednesday, but not anything that belonged to the union.

The University said this was in accordance with Article XV of URSU’s constitution, which states that all of the union’s assets would be held in trust by the U of R’s board of governors or its designate until another union or organization can take its place.

“It was difficult for me at first to grasp these things, because we were never expecting this to be in the middle of the month,” Patel told 980 CJME.

“They told us to (leave) this place and (the University is) not even considering having a meeting or providing an extension so that we could remove the stuff out of the union and store it in a safe place.”

The University of Regina has requested that URSU remove all the personal items of its members from its office by Wednesday, August 20.
August 19, 2025. (Daniel Reech/980 CJME)

The U of R ended its fee collection agreement with URSU in April, saying it would be effective by the end of August.

Although the University cited Article XV in assuming control of URSU’s assets, Patel argued Article XV could not be invoked, since it would require a vote for dissolution by its membership, which never occurred.

“I don’t know why they are acting like this,” Patel said.

He added that URSU will seek legal advice.

In an emailed statement to 980 CJME, the University said it had nothing more to add to it’s statement on Friday, in which President Jeff Keshen stated that the University lost its confidence in URSU’s ability ro properly serve and represent students.

A Statement from President Jeff Keshen: pic.twitter.com/fD0KRvfPRp

— University of Regina (@UofRegina) August 15, 2025

Student unease about URSU

This newest development is the latest in a series of controversial incidents involving URSU this year, including allegations of financial mismanagement.

For many current and former U of R students, the University’s ending URSU’s lease doesn’t come as a shock.

“I knew a lot about what URSU was doing on our campus, and that they were in charge of running lots of the programs that were here – but prior to everything kind of being broken down by the University for students – you couldn’t really tell what their involvement was throughout the school,” said Brooke Litzenberger, a third-year engineering student.

Litzenberger said URSU’s involvement with students dropped “significantly between her first and second years at the U of R.

She said the University’s decision to end its lease agreement with URSU was needed.

“It’s going to inform lots of students what’s going on here, and also make sure that people are being held accountable,” Litzenberger said.

“Especially when it comes to such important things like the finances and the money that people are paying to come to this school.”

Iqra Khalid graduated from the U of R with a nursing degree this summer. Khalid said she personally had difficulty grasping URSU’s contributions to the school.

“The defunding was kind of (anticipated). I think at some point it was going to happen one way or another,” Khalid said.

“I think if the University is going to do something about it, then they need to see the flaws that they had in the system previously, because if they don’t see it before, they’re just going to do it again.”

Patel said URSU was making efforts to improve on some of the issues raised by students, but said many of them were a result of impositions by the University.