UMSU held a rally in front of the U of M Admin Building on April 2 to call on the university’s leadership to stop the four per cent increase in tuition fees and advocate for a more affordable and accessible education.

Tharindu Kottegoda, an undergraduate student and an attendee of the rally thought the rally was “pretty effective.”

“We talked more in depth about how this is going to affect students, how it might lead to them going into debt,” Kottegoda explained. He also mentioned how the increase affects mature students who will have less time and money to spend with their kids. “It’s really [going to] affect students in a negative way and reduce the accessibility of education for students overall.”

Hunter Reynolds, another attendee of the rally, also thought positively of the event. “It felt like there [were] a lot of different people coming together and it did feel like there was a lot of unity in the crowd.”

Kottegoda currently works a part-time job, but on reflecting on the impact of the increase, he believed that it would lead to working more, studying less and “doing the opposite of what [one wants] to do, which is to get an education in order to give yourself a better opportunity.”

Reynolds mentioned his friends are struggling to afford university. “That worries me a lot,” he expressed.

Kottegoda believed that the best way to move forward is to let members of parliament know. Hunter suggested awareness — to speak to friends and family about it.

For more information and follow-up questions, visit @myumsu on Instagram.