MacEwan University: students tips for surviving life on campus

Best place for a nap: Third level of the library (in the individual desks)
Best cheap lunch: Mayday Dogs down the street for well-priced, gourmet hot dogs and shakes
Best hangover breakfast: Denny’s across the street
Favourite campus food: The Towers burger meal
Favourite watering hole: Towers
Perks of living in this town: Festivals (Fringe Fest, Folk Fest, Heritage Days, and more)
Where to live: Residence
Best place to study: Third level of the library (you can nap there after, too)
Worst place to study: Towers
Best campus events: Fall Fest (pop band Dragonette was featured last year)
Unofficial school motto: ‘When in doubt, meet at Towers’
Best live music venue: Starlite Room brings in artists of all kinds, from small DJs to rapper Tyler, the Creator
Best spectator sport: The Griffins men’s and women’s hockey games in the new Rogers Place arena
Most original social event: Sex Week
Best cultural event: Dreamcatcher Aboriginal Youth Conference

PROFILE: MacEwan University | Edmonton, Alta. | Founded 1971

University Insider: Thai Sirikoone, 21, Communications

McEwan University is Edmonton’s underdog university—people don’t expect it to be as cool as it really is. MacEwan is host to many exciting events held by the wonderful student association, such as their speaker series, which brings in celebrities such as Jared Keeso of the Letterkenny TV series. Students can also sign up for the fall and winter intramural sports—my favourite being dodgeball.

All of MacEwan’s buildings are linked with pedways, so there’s no risk of being cold once you get to school, despite Edmonton’s frigid winter season. At the beginning of the school year, you can lay claim to one of the many lockers on campus, which are a nice place to put your coat and books so you don’t need to carry them around.

In 2017, MacEwan opened a new building, Allard Hall, which is a dedicated fine arts and design building—it holds brand-new theatres, auditoriums, study spaces, rehearsal halls and more. Allard Hall’s Triffo Theatre is a fantastic venue for MacEwan actors to showcase their plays and musicals.
Perhaps the best thing about MacEwan is its size—it’s not too big and not too small. Students have an opportunity to meet people studying for different degrees through electives, sports or local events. The medium campus size gives students opportunities to meet people that could be divided by a bigger campus.

Extras
MacEwan’s pub, Towers, is perhaps the greatest extracurricular perk. It’s a great place to go after a midterm, to study, or to simply sit down with your friends. If you want to network, Towers is the place to be. Between the personable bartenders and the friendly regulars, Towers is a place many students call home on campus.

The student union also offers many support services for students, such as Peer Support, a mental health program that allows students to have confidential, peer-to-peer conversations to help deal with stress or any other issues they may have. It’s also free!

Local Vibe
Because MacEwan is in the middle of Edmonton’s downtown core, students have the opportunity to experience some of the city’s best culinary and entertainment experiences, from the chic Chinese bar and restaurant Baijiu, to one of the many escape rooms, cafés or microbreweries—in fact, Edmonton has a great craft beer community with about nine local breweries.
In 2017, Edmonton got a new arena, Rogers Place, which is located right down the street from campus. The Students’ Association of MacEwan University (SAMU) offers student discounts on Oilers, Oil Kings and Eskimos tickets for those interested in the local sports teams, and discounted Cineplex tickets for movie fans.

The Skinny
Keep your eye on MacEwan’s and SAMU’s websites for events and updates on campus, and the Griff (thegriff.ca) for student news.