Laurier Brantford turned 20 this year and students still feel as if they are regarded as second best to the Waterloo campus.

The two Laurier Campuses feel like two different universities. Wilfrid Laurier isn’t doing enough to include Laurier Brantford as a part of Wilfrid Laurier University. 

If you ask many Laurier Brantford students, they’ve probably only gone to the Waterloo campus to visit friends, take part in competitions or for a party. 

Many students feel as if the two seperate schools aren’t even remotely the same, the only similarity being the Laurier part. We have our own sports teams, our own events and our own bookstore. 

If you go on the Wilfrid Laurier website and look at the dining plans page, all the fast food chains and restaurants are located in Waterloo. Students at the Waterloo campus even have a meal plan, whereas Laurier Brantford only has apartment style eating. 

There’s a rare occasion when students from the Waterloo campus come to Brantford; they are captivated by our lifestyle and the way we interact with locals. Laurier Brantford is integrated with the city of Brantford to the extent that we don’t even have our own library. 

I understand our campus is not as old as the Waterloo campus and we don’t have as many students or programs but still we are a part of Laurier and we should be included. 

Some students struggle with academic aspects of the two separate campuses. For example, most of the research librarians are located on the Waterloo campus. When Brantford students need to get a hold of them, they have to contact them through email or phone, instead of visiting their office and having a face-to-face conversation.

There have been many times when emails regarding service outages, Wi-Fi issues, upcoming maintenance are sent out to all Brantford students. Some get confused since they don’t clearly specify. 

Laurier Waterloo events are open to all Laurier Brantford students and many times a bus system is even provided so that students can get to waterloo and back. Should it be for just some events, or should there be a regular bus system for all students all the time?

The Brantford campus feel alienated  because of the huge differences between the two. Many students on the Brantford campus are wondering if they will always be second best to Waterloo.

Is Wilfrid Laurier treating both campuses in the same manner? I don’t think so.