Mac Hall expansion under consideration as SU surveys undergraduates
By Anna Maxwell, September 24 2025—
The Students’ Union (SU) is currently surveying undergraduates about a potential expansion of MacEwan Hall (Mac Hall). In an interview with the Gauntlet, SU President Naomie Bakana says student feedback and rising enrollment make this year the right time to begin the process.
“We hear all the time from students, ‘Mac Hall is so full, it’s so busy, it’s too cramped,’” she said.
She also pointed to the University of Calgary’s Ahead of Tomorrow strategy, which plans for 10,000 more students by 2030.
“Since Mac Hall is seen as a student hub on campus, we have to start thinking strategically about how we’re going to accommodate that,” said Bakana.
Mac Hall has not been expanded since 2002, when the Conference & Event Centre was added. At the time, there were about 20,000 students on campus. Today, there are roughly 38,000.
The survey opened Aug. 15 and is scheduled to close Friday, Sept. 26.
“Once we get that information, our team will compile the responses and help us understand the information that’s presented,” Bakana said.
Under the SU procedure, a committee could recommend a referendum question to the Students’ Legislative Council (SLC). If SLC approves, a referendum would run in the fall alongside the SU by-election cycle.
The SU is seeking 2,000 to 3,000 responses — about 10 per cent of undergraduates — reflecting typical SU participation of 10 to 20 per cent.
“Being able to start with a good amount of students who are already engaged would be good to gauge that feedback,” Bakana said.
Responses are currently limited to undergraduates.
“We’ve gotten a lot of questions from alumni and grads… those voices will also eventually be included, but just not at this time,” she said. “Right now, we want to see what it is that our constituents would like to see in the expansion, and also how much they would be willing to contribute.”
Student dollars have historically underwritten major phases of Mac Hall. Beginning in 1953, undergraduates paid a dedicated “building fee” to finance a student centre. When MacEwan Hall opened in 1967, the Students’ Union covered 55 per cent of the construction through student-backed financing.
The current survey presents multiple possible fee levels to reflect different build timelines. Those ranges were informed by historical student building fees adjusted to current dollars, Bakana said.
“We wanted to give the choice, because we don’t want to say, ‘Hey, we’re doing this new fee and you don’t get a say in it,” said Bakana.
Survey results will determine whether the SU advances a referendum question to SLC.
“If we get the results back and students are like, ‘No, we don’t want to pay for this, or we don’t want an expansion,’ then we’ll have to listen to that,” Bakana said. “If we hear students say, ‘We don’t want this referendum,’ but still decide to go with the referendum, then we can already project that it’ll fail.”
If support is lacking, Bakana said the SU would “go back to the drawing board.”
For Bakana, the proposal of this project is about belonging.
“I just want students to come on campus and think, ‘Wow, I have this space where I can hang out with my friends, where I can study, where I can actually be on campus,’” she said.
On a campus often described as commuter-heavy, she wants an expanded Mac Hall to be a true home base.
“Having that sense of belonging in a physical space matters,” said Bakana.
Undergraduates can complete the survey on the SU’s website.