Hello! My name is Marla Gormley, and I just finished my first year at the University of Lethbridge. I am a Sociology major and I am hoping to get a Bachelor of Arts and Science degree. I, along with my peers, absolutely love this school, but we feel as though we have faced a lot of unfairness this past year.

First-year students who live on campus must purchase a mandatory meal plan which costs around $4000. This money is to be used on food at certain food locations on campus. 

This past year was a little bit rocky, to say the least. Within the first month of school, the Uni closed down the subway which was very popular with students. Not too long after, a food kiosk called the "Urban Market" gave multiple students food poisoning from uncooked chicken. The university did swap the management running the Urban Market, but many students, including myself, were quite scared to purchase food from there again. During our second semester, classes went completely online, and there was a 6-week strike that slowed down traffic at the food outlets provided to us. While this craziness was going on, every single food place was closed except for the Urban Market. This made it very difficult for students to access good, quality, healthy food. As a result of this, many students used less than half of that $4000.

I personally reached out to the University to request that the money is either transferred back into our personal accounts or that we can use it as a credit for our tuition. In doing so, the university sent me an email back saying "You use it, or you lose it", and suggested I use that money left on my account for laundry or wait until I graduate because it will allegedly be refunded then. My dad, unfortunately, passed away 3 years ago so I am unable to receive financial aid from my family, and I am having to work almost full-time hours during my studies in order to pay for living expenses. The money left on my account could be used to help pay for my tuition so that I do not have to take out more loans through the Alberta Government. This is just my story though. There are so many students that could use this money towards tuition, or housing so that they can continue their path to education like myself.

To whoever comes across this petition, we ask if you could please sign it and share it with your friends and family so that we students can get good use out of our own money. We can be the change! Thank you.