President Timmons hopes to make U of R “Place Like No Other”

2018 was a challenging year for the President of the University of Regina.

During her annual State of the University Address on Wednesday, Vianne Timmons jokingly described tackling various issues as fighting off the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Last year, the university dealt with cockroaches at the Riddell Centre, flooding in one of its residences, an ineligible Rams player, protests over its College Avenue campus and Saudi Arabia canceling scholarships during a diplomatic dispute with Canada.

Timmons spent a large portion of her speech sharing hateful emails, some with profanity, in response to its diverse on-campus culture. One person emailed her with their concerns about Shariah law, another was concerned about cultural appropriation.

When she looks at the world today, Timmons said she sees a lot of incivility, bullying, gender bias and harassment.

In her speech themed “A Place Like No Other”, she explained how a university should be a place that challenges all of that.

“(A place) that says civility is important, respectful discourse is important, that says that gender equity is critical and that we should welcome people from all cultures, religions and places,” Timmons said.

The U of R plans to continue with indigenization in 2019. It’s looking at providing funding to increase its indigenous graduate student numbers. Currently, 14 per cent of the student population is indigenous.

Timmons said the university will also move ahead with its new strategic plan which it plans to launch by the fall. Other projects include a new school of business building and raising another $2M toward upgrades to Darke Hall before it opens in 2020.