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A general meeting for one University of Regina group did not go as planned Friday night.
The UR Women’s Centre meeting was adjourned shortly after it began when people in the crowd started to disrupt the opening remarks and blessing from an Indigenous Knowledge Keeper.
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Debra Schubert was supposed to be sworn in as the board chair of the UR Women’s Centre that evening but it didn’t happen due to the disruption.
Before the meeting, the group saw a spike in attendees, and Schubert had a feeling something was up.
“We knew that something was going to happen, but we didn’t know exactly what,” she said.
Schubert said things went south as soon as she started speaking.
“I started doing the land acknowledgement, and a lot of people were snickering,” she said.
She introduced special guest and Knowledge Keeper Kenny Awasis to bless the event and she said people were being disruptive, took videos of Awasis and walked up to the stage asking when things would be done.
“The problem was that they did not ask to record the elder, and that was incredibly disrespectful culturally,” she said. “So it kind of really escalated from there.”
Schubert started explaining the agenda and plans for the meeting when one woman started to constantly interrupt her.
She said the whole ordeal left her feeling shocked.
“Before we adjourned, security had approached her and asked her to leave,” she explained.
“He was trying to escort her out, but she ended up standing up and causing a big scene. At that point I adjourned and I walked away because it was honestly too much.”
Then she said people started yelling and she eventually called the police.
Schubert said a security guard was assaulted. 980 CJME has requested more information from the University of Regina Security and Regina Police Service. That information had not been received at the time of publication.
The UR Women’s Centre is located on the second floor of the Riddell Centre at the University of Regina. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)
She’s not sure why the additional 60-70 people, primarily men, showed up to the meeting.
“It was weird that there were so many men that have never been to the centre, and I wondered what their vested interest was,” Schubert said.
She reiterates that the centre is for everyone.
“People have been more than welcome to come and volunteer and be present and join the board,” Schubert said. “I’m not really sure why suddenly this has become so contentious. It’s very odd.”
She said the disruption was “heartbreaking,” as part of the motivation for the meeting was in celebration of International Women’s Day.
“I think that what happened Friday really shows the importance of having spaces where women can feel safe, she said.
“Clearly we are not as far advanced as we thought we were.”
Safety concerns on campus
When it comes to safety on campus, Schubert said she has noticed a change.
Pursuing her undergrad, Schubert said she would spend many late nights on campus and felt completely safe. Now while doing her master’s, she said she doesn’t come to campus often.
But she also said the University is doing what it can to support women and the centre.
“I think the U of R is actually very much invested in supporting women and protecting women, and they are very supportive of the women’s centre and trying to help us navigate this,” she said.
“Unfortunately, it’s escalated to what it has. I do think it’s very unfortunate to the degree that women don’t feel safe on campus.”
Schubert said the disruption inspires the centre to push even harder to protect the space.
“We’re more motivated than ever.
“I think the direction that we are going to have to take now is to really try to do more community activism and asking for support from community members, alumni and people that didn’t necessarily know what’s going on.
“Now they know or hopefully they’ll learn and come out and support us.”
Schubert said the centre hasn’t had a chance to regroup since Friday’s incident, but it plans to debrief and decide on its next steps.
In a statement from the university, it said it’s investigating to determine exactly what happened.
“We are committed to a safe and welcoming community, and it is important that the conduct of employees, students, and third parties on our campus reflect our Respectful University Policy,” the statement read.