By Shanleigh Brosseau, Editor-in-Chief 

 The Students’ General Association (SGA) is requiring non-SGA students to pay a $200 access fee to the Student Centre.

The SGA opened the doors its new Student Centre building in October. The building was accessible to anyone on campus until November 3rd 2019.

But an email released by Laurentian University in October informed all students that non-SGA members would be required to purchase a pass to continue accessing the centre.

According to the email, “Any student can use this space provided they have contributed toward its inception. All SGA students have this fee integrated in their association fees. All other students can purchase a pass.”

The mandatory fee for SGA members is $114. Non-members including the Association des étudiantes et étudiants francophones (AEF) and the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) are asked to pay $200 to use the centre.

Some students voiced their concern and confusion on social media, including UMentioned Laurentian, student group pages and Twitter.

Lee Adams, a second-year student in Nursing, is a member of both the Association des étudiantes et étudiants francophones (AEF) and the Indigenous Student Circle (ISC). Adams posted on a Laurentian University student group page, after some confusion while trying to study with a group of classmates at the Student Centre.

“Me and my friends always have study groups because the workload [in nursing] is so heavy, it’s better to work in groups. We wanted to check out [the Student Centre],” Adams said.

The Student Centre is open to all community members on the first floor, that includes the the V-Desk, executive offices and Old Rock, which has been moved from the Pub.

SGA members, or those who have paid the fee can swipe their student card at the door to gain access to the lower floor which contains an atrium, a games room, and additional study spaces.

“I was not aware it was the SGA’s building,” she said. “We went to go inside, and [we were asked] if we were in the SGA.”

According to Adams, the group had several students of different associations.

“They [told us] if you’re not in the SGA, then you have to pay and I asked why is that?” Adams said.

Adams then posted the question on a Laurentian student group page to find out why.

“It didn’t seem fair to me at the time,” Adams said.

“Why would you build a student centre, specifically for maybe like 60 percent of the population,” Adams said. “We have the library, we have the entire campus, but it feels spiteful, it feels wrong.”

Adams added that she does not plan on paying the additional fee to access the building, as it is not within her mandatory student fees.

Véro St. Jean, a student in Social Work and a member of the AEF said she feels that current students were not given a choice of whether or not to pay for the centre within their student fees.

When the centre was originally being planned, associations including the AEF and the GSA declined to have their students pay into the building.

“I don’t have to pay $200 to get in, but SGA students don’t have a choice and had to pay,” St. Jean said.

“My friends [in the SGA] think the centre is nice, but they are like ‘Yes, we have a building, but half my friends can’t even come in with me’,” she said.

“And they were upset that we [in the AEF] didn’t have to pay the fee and they did.”

When you erect exclusive areas that mainly makes people feel excluded

Aaron St. Pierre, Graduate Students’ Association President

Aaron St. Pierre, President of the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) said a number of students have voiced their concerns to the GSA.

“The people most upset by the policy are graduate students who attended Laurentian for their undergraduate degrees [who were former SGA members],” St. Pierre said.

“So, you’ve got some students who have paid hundreds of dollars towards the facility and they’re not allowed to use it.”

“I’m of the view that everyone should be allowed in educational spaces, they should be open to everybody,” he added. “When you erect exclusive areas that mainly makes people feel excluded.”

St. Pierre weighed in on the decision of past executives to not include the Student Centre within the association’s student fees.

“The executives at the time voted to not take part in the initiative,” he added.

“So that is a factor that needs to be considered in the whole equation, but it’s one of those things where [it’s] policy decisions made five years ago, there’s right now we could talk about.”

In an emailed statement to Lambda, Laurentian University said that the SGA took “the initiative of building their own student centre on campus, beyond the current space offered by the university for each student association.”

“SGA students have been paying for their new student centre since 2014, as the fee is integrated within their association fee,” the statement said. “ For students in the AEF or GSA whose fees do not include the SGA student centre fee, they may purchase a pass to use the SGA student centre.” 

The AEF declined to comment on the matter.

Eric Chapell, president of the SGA did not respond to several interview requests.