Connecting on campus: Students, staff reflect on challenging social culture at U of Manitoba
Some say commuter campus atmosphere hinders relationships, others say social culture recovering from pandemic
Danyal Ahmad says life at the University of Manitoba doesn't seem the same as it was when he was a student there from 2012 to 2016.
He remembers events being busy, people were a bit more friendly and when things were going on on campus, people wanted to be there.
"We've had parties where people come in, event people have come in, but it just doesn't feel like the same energy that it was pre-COVID," said Ahmed, who is now the business manager for IQ's Cafe and Billiards, which is owned by the University of Manitoba Student Union.
More than 30,000 total students were enrolled at the University of Manitoba in the fall 2024 term, according to data posted to the school's website. Some students CBC News spoke to say the university has become just a commuter campus — where many people live off-campus and go to school for their classes, but don't spend too much time there when they're done.
But others say its social culture is still recovering from the pandemic, which was downgraded from a global emergency in May 2023.
At IQ's, Ahmad said it's been slow this year, attributing some of that to rising costs, but he also said it might be because the way people socialize has changed.
"It's been really cold lately [too], but that didn't matter before, pre-COVID," he said. "People were always here, it didn't matter, day and night you would always have those even leaving this place at 5:00 or 6:00 in the evening it would be usually busy, but right now it's been fairly slow."
UMSU president Divya Sharma pinpoints the shift in the way people socialize to the pandemic. It made people want to stay in more and didn't help social development either, she said.
Many her age also dreamed of a university experience like something out of a movie, and not one that started virtually.
"We didn't really get to do that because we had to quarantine, but now we're seeing the consequences of that," said Sharma.
Interest, but no follow-through
The pandemic would've had a big impact on anyone who started school online and went back to face-to-face learning after, said Dr. Diana Brecher, a clinical psychologist who has also been working at Toronto Metropolitan University since 1991.
"In terms of engagement on campus, from my perspective, it seems that there's interest but not necessarily the follow-through," said Brecher. "So people will say 'Oh yeah that sounds like a really interesting program, I'm going to sign up,' and then they don't show up."
"So I think that, my theory is — based on very little research — that we've all been given permission to opt out even after we've opted in, it's like there's a social acceptance of it and people are doing it."
Brecher also called the unplanned interactions that happen outside of class a "social developmental component" which got missed during the pandemic.
"Who you bump into at the coffee shop, what extracurricular or social group do you engage in, who do you run into at the gym," she said. "All of those ... non-planned experiences that make university life really interesting, the conversations you have with people that aren't planned or structured in the Zoom meetings."
Commuter campus also a challenge: students
The nature of the university as a commuter school is also something that impacts its culture, according to students CBC News spoke with.
"That allows me to meet less people or less opportunities and activities I can do with people," said River Inan. "So it definitely affects it."
Nursing student Dionne Roque said while her classes are a good way to meet people, it can be hard to stick around campus longer than you have to.
"I feel like it's mostly the culture of the university," she said. "With activities being so late in the day ... we get here and most of the classes are at 8:30 until 3:00, and you're exhausted already and you don't want to stay that long and also, I feel like more people are just more reserved nowadays and like just do their own thing."
Back in January, the university's Student Wellness Centre held a "speed friending" event where students could come and make new connections.
The event only drew 11 students, but Arlana Vadnais, who oversees the centre, said it's still considered a success.
Meeting new people is challenging, said Vadnais. And with the U of M's campus being so big and people going from class to class and possibly going home, students might not give themselves the chance to "slow down to connect."
"A lot of people aren't as comfortable walking up somebody and saying 'hey how's it going,' or connecting with somebody who's staring at their phone as they wait for class to start," she said,
Vadnais also said students need "to look for those opportunities as well" when it comes to socializing and building community.
And those opportunities do exist in the form of clubs and student groups, said Isham Sharma, who is in his seventh year at the university. At one point, he was part of more than a dozen student groups.
"You might find the nicest or weirdest communities by just searching around and and then you show up to their events and you decide if you like it," he said. "You'll find friends there."
That's something Inan, who also went looking for the university experiences she had been craving, echoed.
"I think that's the key to make more friends," she said. "Find activities you're interested in and find where you can find these activities in university, and then make your friends, make your way from there."
