The Rotunda groups have won their space and that’s something we can all smile about

By: Meera Eragoda, Staff Writer

WOW! Did any of us think we would be students at SFU long enough to witness the SFSS Board of Directors doing something so wholly unproblematic as giving the Rotunda groups space in the new SUB? Honestly though, all snark aside, these kinds of actions are what the SFSS Board of Directors should continue to focus on moving forward. 

Though this year is young, the SFSS Board started it out embroiled in a financial fiasco. I understand that the SFSS Board can’t control all events that occur, and that not everyone on the SFSS Board feels the same way about every issue, but I hope they all find it nicer to be facing positive opinions with the SUB space decision, rather than student ire.

The Rotunda groups’ fight for space began before I started attending SFU, but in pondering this good news, I was struck by how long this fight has actually drawn out. There is a Peak article from back in 2013 that details the need to consider the Rotunda groups when constructing the SUB. 2013! Clearly, this advice was never actually taken into consideration back then, or students wouldn’t have had to fight so hard over the last few years just to get this current tentative agreement. 

By nature, universities have a constantly revolving door of students, with old ones graduating and new ones arriving. SFU has an additional factor to this revolving nature that comes from our commuter campus status. This all creates a feeling of impermanence or temporality with what goes on at our disbursed campuses. Given all of this, I am impressed by the ability of the Rotunda groups to organize and succeed in their fight, despite spanning multiple years and student bodies.

Now is the SFSS Board’s chance to lock this space down for the groups and show us that they are committed to supporting campus resources for students instead of taking them away.