Less than 500 students vote and The Lazy Owl remains closed
With the upcoming University of Regina Students’ Association (URSA) elections expected to be held in March, the Carillon asked students what they would like to see from the new team representing the student organization.
At the end of the 2025 fall semester, URSA was officially elected by the student body as their new union. An interim executive team of five people took the reins temporarily as the new union started preparing for their first elections.
All five interim executive members are set to graduate after the winter ‘26 semester and plan to set up URSA’s first election before they graduate.
Speculations about The Owl
Although there weren’t many students who voted to select URSA as their new union, some of those who did say they would like to see a replacement for The Lazy Owl.
“I know I may be in the minority here, but The Owl was a cool place to drink and hang out, so it would be nice if [URSA] could advocate for putting another type of bar style spot,” said Joel Pound, third-year engineering student. Pound enjoyed playing pool with his friends and said that the new Trifon’s just isn’t the same as The Owl. Because The Owl is a large space that is currently unoccupied, students like Pound believe it should be operating.
“Even if it were some type of games space, filled with pool tables and arcade machines like Birmingham’s, that would be awesome, but right now it feels like a wasted space,” he said.
Calls for more food spaces
Aside from The Owl, one student mentioned that she would like to see URSA proposing to build more food spots on campus.
“I know both the Indian and Chinese food places are opening, but it would be nice to see another type of Subway alternative for example,” said first-year kinesiology student Jenna Oakley.
Oakley expressed that with both Starbucks and Trifon’s being added, she feels as though there aren’t many affordable places left to eat on campus.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love the variety of food, but all the options are a little expensive, and so with that it would be nice to have cheaper options,” she said.
The Owl was a cool place to drink and hangout, so it would be nice if [URSA] could advocate for putting another type of bar style spot.” – Joel Pound, student, U of R
Stronger advocacy for fees
Another student mentioned concerns regarding tuition and other student fees.
“For me, I’m not planning on paying much attention to URSA, but if they can figure out a way to better advocate for reducing how much we pay, I’ll start caring,” said second-year music student Ryan Scott.
Whether it’s finding a replacement for The Owl, building cheaper food spots, or advocating for affordable tuition, students at the U of R have concerns that they would like the new URSA team to address. Some students even mentioned bringing back the food bank which used to be outside the previous union’s offices.
While there are some students who seem to be uninterested in keeping up with URSA related news, others like Pound and Oakley would like the new team actively working toward student interests.
