Was the battle against tuition hikes lost before it began? 

By Matthew Johnson, October 21 2025—

Students have been told our tuition will be raised for the sixth year in a row, and as I look at our efforts to fight back, I fear we may have lost the battle before it even began.

On Oct. 7, the University of Calgary hosted their Fall Community Discussion: Tuition & More event, where students got an opportunity to ask questions about the proposed tuition hike. Additionally, as part of their tuition consultation process, university administration will assemble a “What We Heard” report from the proceedings, which will be a part of the final tuition and fees proposal delivered to students. 

When I arrived at the event, I was shocked but not surprised to see an incredibly low turnout, myself being only one of seven students who arrived on time. 

But I could never blame students for being unable to attend. 

This event was set at an awkward time on a random weekday, with doors opening at 11:00 a.m. and the discussion starting a half-hour after. One attendee that I met skipped class to make sure his voice was heard. One can’t help but wonder if the timing for the event was purposeful — if the administration actually wanted this event to have such a low turnout. 

As I looked around the near-empty grand hall, I was heartbroken to see that there were no elected student representatives or staff members from either the Students’ Union (SU) or the Graduate Student’s Association (GSA) in attendance. 

There was no one there to back us up, to stand up with us or make sure we were truly being heard. At best, their negligence to do their jobs was a grave error in the fight against tuition hikes. At worst, it was a dereliction of duty. 

When there is better representation from students of the UofC Revolutionary Communist Party making their voices louder (and more disruptive) than from our student leaders, something has gone terribly wrong. 

So where do we go from here? 

We should expect more from our student leaders, and we should never settle for the bare minimum — in this case, student representatives showing up at all, which wasn’t even met. Students are dealing with full time class schedules, piled on by homework, readings, part-time and sometimes even full-time jobs. They can’t always check the deluge of emails (such as the general reminder they received for this event) that fill their inbox, meaning important events like this fall through the cracks and the administration gets away with whatever they want — in this case, raising our tuition and fees for the sixth time in a row.

If the SU and GSA’s job is to represent students and their interests, a reminder email is not enough. 

If there are any student representatives reading this, leave the office. Go out to your constituents, be loud, show the strength we have together, give classroom talks, canvass students and show them what exactly the university administration is doing to them. 

In times like these, people want to be included, so let them fight alongside you for an affordable education for all students! But that cannot happen if you leave them helpless on the sidelines. 

This university is filled with the most passionate and driven people I have ever met. Don’t ever forget that. 

Now, more than ever, we should be sounding the alarm and screaming from the rooftops that what the university administration is doing isn’t right or just: not when students can’t afford to pay their rent or afford their groceries because they’re scrounging to pay for an education that should be afforded to all of us. 

I am terribly sorry to say to the students of our great university — both graduate and undergraduate — you were failed by your student representatives on Oct. 7. 

I fear that, despite their best interests, this abysmal display will lead to further disengagement and political apathy from our broader student body. 

I fear that this was better than anything in the administration’s wildest dreams, and will be used to justify yet another year of tuition hikes. 

I fear that the battle was lost before it even began. 

This article is a part of our Opinions section and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Gauntlet editorial board.