Thanks to all of our supporters, the online petition to save SFPIRG now has over 500 signatures, with support coming in from all across SFU!
After a month of waiting for the SFSS to formally offer a sublease extension, SFPIRG received their offer last week: SFSS has demanded a $10,000 deposit to extend SFPIRG’s current sublease until December 14th, with no possible extension.
The SFPIRG Board of Directors asked to meet with the SFSS Board of Directors, both to discuss the sublease extension, and to continue negotiating for long-term space on campus. The SFSS President responded to the request to negotiate long-term space as follows:
We had previously discussed long term space with you and made it clear that we were not able to grant you space based on the conditions that you had outlined. If your position on those conditions have now changed, please let us know and send us a revised letter.
Please see the following two letters that SFPIRG’s Board of Directors have sent in response to the sublease extension and to the issue of long-term space negotiations:
SFPIRG is not the only organization facing displacement by the SFSS. CJSF has received identical unreasonable terms from the SFSS in order to extend the sublease for their current space in the Rotunda. And SOCA, the Students of African and Caribbean Ancestry (formerly African-Caribbean Heritage Association) have had space in the Rotunda since the late 90s, directly beside SFPIRG. Last week, the SFSS told SOCA that “other marginalized groups” wouldn’t be able to fit in the SUB if SOCA got space. When SOCA asked which “other marginalized groups” the SFSS was referring to, none could be named.
While the SFPIRG Board of Directors waits for a response from the SFSS Board of Directors, you can help by staying informed, spreading the word through social media, and, if you’re up for it, volunteering to come to an SFPIRG table and speak to other students, sharing the experiences you’ve had with SFPIRG and why you care about the campaign to save student space at SFU. If you are teaching classes, letting one of our volunteers came and speak to your students about SFPIRG’s impending eviction is another way to support the our campaign.
To volunteer with the campaign, contact us at outreach@sfpirg.ca and we’ll follow up with more info!
If you haven’t signed our online petition yet, please consider doing so here: https://www.change.org/p/simon-fraser-university-save-sfpirg-and-provide-leased-space-on-campus
We’ll post with more updates as they become available.
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