Student brings housing crisis to center stage at Capilano University event
Asmi Toor Sogi (she/her) // Contributor
What is usually known as the “Chancellor’s Circle Dinner” was reintroduced as the “Presidents’ Dinner,” raising over $270,000 for student housing bursaries on April 8, 2026, at the Fulmer Family Centre for Childhood Studies. The compelling speech of the student speaker, Manroop Kaur, drew attention to commuting and on-campus housing affordability challenges. She shared how living far from campus due to limited cost-efficient housing options affected her social life and ability to stay engaged with on-campus activities. Moreover, Kaur explained how after moving into residence, she experienced a stronger sense of community, highlighting the value of accessible student housing.
Even though the original plan was to continue the annual Chancellor’s Dinner tradition, Yuri Fulmer, CapU’s chancellor and candidate in the 2026 B.C. Conservative leadership election, became unavailable to attend due to the B.C. Conservative Leadership Debate taking place on the same day. “We had a choice at that time to reschedule or rename, and we chose to rename,” explained CapU president Jason Dewling in an interview with the Courier. “The fees, logistics and cascading impacts of moving the date caused all kinds of concerns as we had 130 people and many vendors to consider,” he wrote on April 17.
The university moved forward under the new leadership of Dr. Dewling, bringing together the university’s former presidents Greg Lee and Paul Dangerfield. The event created an opportunity for institutional continuity amid change and turned what could have been a standard formal event into something closer to a reflection on CapU’s past and, more importantly, its present.
When it came to current issues faced by students, Manroop Kaur, third-year Kinesiology major and the only student speaker of the evening, put the housing crisis at the heart of the discussion. An important goal for the evening was to raise money to support the student housing bursary, and Kaur successfully raised awareness about a reality many CapU students face daily: long commutes and limited access to affordable housing.
“She delivered an exceptional speech which had a direct impact on how people donated to the bursary,” Dr. Dewling noted, pointing to a visible shift in the room following her address. She spoke candidly about her own experience and how she had to spend up to three hours a day commuting for just a few hours of classes. That led to a toll that wasn’t just academic, but also physical, financial and emotional.
Kaur’s experience is far from isolated. According to the university data shared by Dr. Dewling, 65 per cent of CapU students commute across the bridge. The annual experience survey conducted by the Capilano Students’ Union, as reported by the North Shore News in 2025, the average commute for CapU students was over 100 minutes. The lack of accessible and affordable on-campus housing forces students to choose between financial strain and physical exhaustion, both of which directly affect their academic performance as well as their sense of belonging among their peers.
Another unique aspect of this event was the food. Even though the university has a contract for exclusivity with Charwells—meaning that food catering cannot be done by any other company for events on campus—an exception was made for the Presidents’ Dinner. The explanation offered by the president was that Chartwells allowed the university to bring in an outside caterer for this event given that “it was a three-course meal and an outside vendor was better equipped to handle such a meal in a venue without a commercial kitchen.”
Overall, what might have remained a formal celebratory event instead became a moment of collective awareness; a shift that was reflected in the outcome. According to Jennifer Bryan—Director, Philanthropy & Alumni Relations—by April 20, the Presidents’ Dinner had raised $270,716 for the new student housing bursary, with many attendees being visibly moved by the urgency of the issues presented. As Kaur shared, a $50,000 donation came through right after her speech ended. While fundraising is a standard goal of such events, this year’s contributions were more directly tied to students’ lived experiences.