Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group addresses failed "coup d’etat" in open letter

The student-run social and environmental justice resource centre at Simon Fraser University is calling for support after some students tried to have its funding revoked.

The Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group is funded by a levy of $3 per semester for full-time students and $1.50 for part-time students.

That makes all SFU students members of SFPIRG, unless they opt out at the beginning of a semester.

SFPIRG has set up a Web site soliciting support and has released the following open letter:

An Open Letter from SFPIRG in response to planned “coup d’etat” and failed fee referendum

On February 10, a group of students intentionally disrupted SFPIRG’s Annual General Meeting as part of a larger agenda to take down the organization. The agenda was later revealed in a blog (vanmaren88.blog.ca) written by two of the attending students, Sam Reynolds and Jonathon Van Maren . According to the blog, two students

“Sam Reynolds and Robert Lutener”¦began formulating plans to orchestrate a coup d’etat [the wording has since been changed to ”˜action’] against the group. They worked hard to solicit support from like minded people, such as Jonathon Van Maren”¦organizing on Facebook in complete secrecy.”

Directly after the AGM, Van Maren presented a motion at the SFSS board meeting to put SFPIRG fees to referendum this March. The motion did not pass and the board decided that a petition by 5% of the student body was needed.  (see Peak Article:  Fervent student-group debate erupts during board meeting)  The group did not obtain the necessary amount of student signatures for the petition to be successful during this election period.

SFPIRG welcomes open and constructive dialogue about our work and structure. However, we do not consider the ill will and secretive method of organizing used by this group of students as representative of SFU’s student body in general. SFPIRG was established through student organizing in 1981 as an autonomous organization specifically mandated to advocate for social and environmental justice. This means we work to empower student leadership in affecting change towards the full respect of human rights and environmental sustainability.

SFPIRG offers a wide range of resources which include a Social Justice Lending Library; a bike tool co-op; and workshop trainings on anti-oppression, consensus decision-making, facilitation and creative media. In addition SFPIRG has the popular Action Research eXchange (ARX) program, which allows students to apply and develop their research skills in the real world through partnerships with community organizations. SFPIRG is home to a number of student-organized action groups on campus including Climate Change, Ancient Forests, Voice for Animals, and Letters for the Inside (a research initiative that helps prisoners access information to facilitate their rehabilitation process).

SFPIRG further supports local and on-campus initiatives to achieve social and environmental justice through donations, including in the areas of housing and homelessness, indigenous rights, welfare of women and children, community health, and others. Students who wish to attend social and/or environmental justice conferences or organize action groups can also apply to us for funding support.

Students are integral at every level of SFPIRG – as board members, workers, volunteers and service users. We operate using consensus, a democratic practice that requires everyone’s voice and active consent in the decision-making process and outcome. We have three part-time staff to coordinate resources, provide organizational continuity, and mentor student organizers. We also have 5 to 7 paid student positions in any given semester.

Similar to The Peak and CJSF, SFPIRG is funded by a student levy. Full time students pay $3.00 and part-time students pay $1.50 each semester. In November 2007, the newly formed Graduate Student Society voted on all student fees and SFPIRG received 71.3% votes in favour of continued funding. Any student who doesn’t support SFPIRG can request a refund of their levy during the fourth week of the semester. We publicize this information at the start of each semester.

The students who came to disrupt our AGM have accused SFPIRG of withholding information and being an undemocratic “exclusionary ideological clique”. We want to respond to these charges. At the AGM, we provided a detailed annual report of all our work in 2008-2009. We also provided copies of our financial statements, which according to the BC Societies Act, we are not required to audit. No charges, complaints or concerns have ever arisen about SFPIRG’s financial systems. All of these documents are available on our website.

On February 10^th, SFPIRG proposed several bylaw changes to guarantee annual board elections and outline the nominations process and voting on candidates at future AGMs. Currently elections occur only when there are more people interested than there are positions. The proposed amendments would have created a nominations process and an opportunity for members to vote on board candidates at annual elections. They were publicized on our website three weeks prior to the AGM. We respect the outcomes of the voting process at our AGM, where they did not pass in large part due to the disruption we experienced. Our next nominations round for the board will be this summer.

We find it hypocritical for a small group of students plotting in secrecy and abusing the platform of democracy to try and remove a critical space of leadership development, social responsibility and empowerment for all students. SFPIRG has championed social and environmental justice at SFU for the past 29 years and we believe the majority of students at SFU share our values around human rights and sustainability. We are surprised by the forcefulness of anti-community sentiment amongst the small group of students organizing against us. Interconnection between campus and community – both of which contextualize and shape students’ lives – is essential for genuine democracy. Students do not exist in a vacuum and the campus is meaningless without the multiple civic spaces that we inhabit in our daily lives.

If you have concerns or questions, come talk to us. Show your support for SFPIRG by signing this statement of endorsement and visit www.iheartsfpirg.ca for more ways to get involved.

In solidarity with you for a more just, sustainable and meaningful world,

Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group

You can follow Stephen Hui on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenhui.