Ab SchStudents voted “yes” to continue paying The Gateway’s mandatory, per-undergraduate student and per-semester fee of $3.39 that funds the paper and campus media source.
The Gateway’s Dedicated Fee Unit (DFU) was up for its mandatory renewal, which every DFU is required to conduct every five years. The plebiscite won with a 61 per cent majority vote.
Beth Mansell, Executive Director of The Gateway, said she was excited about the decision and was happy that students felt like The Gateway still deserved their support.
Current Editor-in-Chief of The Gateway, Cam Lewis, said he believed that students made the right choice and that students saw the paper as an “integral part to campus life.”
The Gateway will transition from a weekly print format to a monthly magazine in the next publishing year. Mansell and Lewis said that with the plebiscite out of the way, the paper can now focus on improving student engagement.
“I think we want to start digging in and investigating on what people actually like based on research so we can make it worthwhile for people who voted yes for us,” Lewis said. “And for the people who voted ‘no’ … to prove them wrong.”
Incoming Editor-in-Chief Josh Greschner shared a similar sense of relief following The Gateway’s victory. Because plebiscites are not legally binding, the SU Students’ Council will discuss and vote whether to renew the DFU in an upcoming meeting.
“I was preparing for the worst, I was preparing to do a speech for student council saying what we have to do,” Greschner said. “But now we can avoid that and concentrate on content.”
With files from Richard Catangay-Liew.
