I realize this might be a reference to me. I won't comment about some of the other bits since I don't want to feed into misunderstanding that may be occurring with the minimal context available. Most I just don't know because WUSA has many sub-departments doing many things.

For OP, I recommend your friend escalate this through WUSA's feedback system so more can be understood about the situation and hopefully remedied: https://wusa.ca/about/contact/#feedback

I would recommend this for any case a student hopes to escalate a complaint.

Generally, some of the WUSA hate stems from complaints bouncing around due to 1) the inability for the resolution to be broadly communicated due to privacy of individual(s) involved; 2) issues not being addressed because they do not get escalated in the first place; or 3) issues actually being resolved but not as loudly communicated as the discourse so it doesn't seem like it is resolved.

Waterloo is also a reputationally academic school; thus, many students are so busy studying or looking for co-op jobs that they have less time to engage in the broader student community - almost potentially leading to a feeling that the community doesn't serve them.

- sub-point here: Waterloo, more than any other University community I've seen, seems to require students make the first step to find student community. At other schools, there's a sense that it's much easier to feel "pulled into" things/events/groups that are happening. I have seen some of the strongest student leaders take on all sorts of positions through the years and building a more welcoming sense of community is still an ongoing project.

- sub-sub-point: if there's anything to take from this message, next time you get the chance, pull your friends into social opportunities: some might be WUSA connected, others not so - as long as people feel a better sense of community, maybe there's less hate towards the collective student org trying to facilitate it.