Over the past six months, I have had the pleasure of being on the Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA) student council as a floor representative, where I have been a member of multiple committees. When I ran for floor representative, I was feeling optimistic that this organization would make a profound impact on living in residence, and had faith with the leadership of the RRRA executives. That couldn’t be any further from the truth. The reality of RRRA is that it’s horrendous.
From my own experience, RRRA has failed residence students. Programming has been boring, and the initiatives created for students have vastly been exclusive and limited. RRRA executives are responsible for encouraging council members and the residence community to participate in RRRA events. These events are essential to the functionality of RRRA as a whole. But the organization of said committees this year was atrocious. The special events committee within RRRA has only met once, according to sources within the committee and as a result nothing was ever done.
The most important thing that RRRA advertises throughout the year is its commitment to planning and facilitating great social events for the residence community. I have to say, the programming in 2016-17 has been dreadful to say the least. Throughout the school year, events included open mics, a talent show, and the Residence Formal. With the exception of the annual Residence Formal, all of the events that have been facilitated by RRRA have either been cancelled or had low turnout, were low energy, and honestly a waste of time and resources. Promotion for the events was very minimal and clearly did not catch the interest of the residence community. It begs the question—where did the $40,000 budgeted for programming really go? Because I honestly don’t know.
Not to mention the many campaign promises that the current executive made last year that have yet to be fulfilled. Two promises that have yet to be implemented include the replacement of Mac Daddy’s with a Burrito Shack in Oasis, and the creation of a delivery system from Abstentions to students’ floors.
If anything, there is one positive thing that RRRA has done this year that deserves some credit, and that is the Parliament Hill program. This allows applicants to be paired up with a Member of Parliament to volunteer in their office. Although this is an initiative that I myself have benefited from, it is very exclusive with only a few applicants actually getting the chance to volunteer. Additionally, this initiative only appeals to a small amount of some 3,600 students that are currently living in residence. More should have been done to create initiatives that appeal to a wide range of interests in order to give more residence students a better experience.
At its current state, RRRA has become a useless organization, where three powerful individuals earn an excessive salary while gaining a title for their résumés. RRRA needs change and it needs it now. If RRRA is really a voice for residence students, then it should be exactly that. With a levy fee of $65, RRRA doesn’t seem worth it.
