The Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA) plastered 1,200 petitions on the walls surrounding the housing department office Nov. 11, protesting what they say is unfair treatment of their association.
RRRA lost two of its office spaces last spring, and will also lose room 232 in Glengarry House and their convenience store Abstentions when renovations begin in May 2013, said RRRA president Omar Bainto.
The petitions were posted over bulletin boards designated for off-campus housing notices, which is against the university’s poster policy, said constable Richard Sabourin of the department of university safety.
Campus safety asked RRRA to take the petitions down and did so respectfully, he said.
Bainto said campus safety initially stated that the petitions cast the university in a negative light.
“I really have no reaction,” said housing department director David Sterritt, in response to RRRA’s petitions. “We are already aware of the issue.”
Bainto said the department of housing and conference services has been systematically taking away RRRA’s space over the last six months, and has not responded to requests to negotiate a lease agreement that would secure spaces for the association.
RRRA vice-president (administration) Joel Tallerico said the university gave RRRA the impression that their offices would be returned to them following renovations last spring.
They were never returned, and no alternative spaces were provided, he said.
“Room 209 was originally designed as a classroom space, and the university has taken that space back because it is required for teaching and learning,” Sterritt said.
He said he is still working on finding alternative spaces for the residence association.
The university has continued to charge RRRA for renting room 209, although they have not occupied the space since May 28, 2012, Tallerico said.
“They are contractually breaking a lease between the university and the association through their actions, and this is absolutely deplorable,” Tallerico said.
Sterritt said he plans to contact the university finance office this week to ensure that RRRA is reimbursed for these rent charges.
Tallerico said RRRA hopes the outcry from students who signed the 1,200 petitions will bring awareness to the issue and prompt the university to return the rooms that are promised to them in the lease.
Further plans to renovate Abstentions as part of a larger renovation project next spring could bankrupt RRRA if they are forced to pay for the costs, Bainto said.
Bainto said RRRA was told the renovations would go ahead whether they wanted them to or not, and that Sterritt was simply asking if they wanted to help design the renovations.
Sterritt said RRRA would be expected to pay for the renovations to Abstentions because it would be an improvement for the space they occupy.
Bainto said he doesn’t understand why RRRA would have to pay the full cost since the student organization leases the space from the university.
Awareness about the issue needs to be raised, he said, because RRRA is becoming increasingly nervous about their future.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous that the university continues to push the association around, bully us, and steal our spaces away without the proper notice given,” Tallerico said.
The university’s failure to negotiate the lease terms is no longer acceptable, he said, and shows how little they value the positive impact the association has on students.
“Residence students deserve better than this, and residence students deserve to be treated with respect,” Tallerico said.
