By: Mason Mattu, News Writer
Inspired to take action after SFU’s recent closure of the Vancity Office of Community Engagement (VOCE), a group of undergraduate and graduate students at the School for Contemporary Arts (SCA) have founded Students Against Austerity, an advocacy group focused on demanding more transparency and community consultation regarding university decisions for staff and students.
On January 23, SFU announced the closure of VOCE and the Office of Community Engagement located in Surrey due to budget challenges. VOCE was based at the SFU Goldcorp Campus and “supported creative engagement, knowledge democracy, and access to arts and culture.” Alongside this, the office established connections to the arts and culture scene of the Downtown Eastside. Last summer, SFU discontinued another of their cultural hubs in the area, Woodward’s Cultural Programs.
The word austerity is usually used to express concern around spending cuts used to reduce budget deficits. SFU currently has a $49.9 million deficit. According to the university’s vice-president academic, SFU sees these challenges as “part of an opportunity for change” to “organizational operations.” They referenced their current “hiring freeze” as another example of this.
The Peak spoke to Jeen Yi, a first-year visual arts student at SCA and organizer with Students Against Austerity. “We are demanding more of a response from [SFU’s] vice-president or the provost,” Yi commented. “They’re not really being transparent.”
SCA director Peter Dickinson told The Peak the department has not met with SFU’s senior administration regarding VOCE’s closure. Last summer, SCA met with an independent contractor of the university following the decision to place VOCE under the temporary oversight of the faculty of communication, art, and technology as well as under the Centre for Dialogue. SCA was opposed to this move given VOCE’s operation as an independent entity.
The advocacy group started under the name Voices for VOCE, inspired by the initial teach-in protest held last month in solidarity with the office’s former staff.
“I’m very proud of the students [ . . . ] I think this initiative is the students saying that we are the core constituency of this institution,” said Dickinson in response to Students Against Austerity. “The university so far has been unaccountable to any other constituency, including its faculty. Maybe they’ll listen to the students.”
“The opportunities that we get [as SCA students] are very closely linked to our engagement office, a lot of volunteering opportunities, even employment opportunities because students get to work with the office as well. But the closing takes away all of that. So, it’s a huge loss for us students, but from the faculty or staff point of view, they just lost very close colleagues,” said Yi. “They’ve been contributing to the community so much and that’s what they get. They just lost everything.”
According to Yi, the advocacy group started under the name Voices for VOCE, inspired by the initial teach-in protest held last month in solidarity with the office’s former staff. One of the goals of the organization remains to call for the reopening of VOCE. However, it’s now turned into a broader movement that is calling for greater transparency of university decisions. The university closed its language learning programs in 2024 and the SFU football program in 2023. This is coupled with the recent layoffs of 100 custodians, instructors, and administrative staff in July of 2024 — many of whom were allegedly “either on or returning from medical leave.”
Although the group currently only has four members, they are actively recruiting students with a similar objective to join the cause. Starting off by pasting “flyers and small posters” around Goldcorp with information on how to get involved, the group has also delivered “call-to-action speeches” to classes. Students Against Austerity has also been holding weekly planning meetings on Sundays via Zoom. Yi said a goal of the group is to have a rally by the end of the semester, but anticipates them holding smaller events before doing so.
As for the next steps in expanding the movement, Yi said Students Against Austerity will be working with the student-led organization Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group (SFPIRG) to help them “get more active on campus.” This includes providing the group with more financial support to hold rallies and fund poster making.
SFPIRG also proposed a merger of Students Against Austerity and another activist group on campus, Students, Staff, and Faculty for a Democratic University (SDU+). Most recently, SDU+ held a General Assembly in the SUB Ballroom to rally against “skyrocketing tuition, student debt, and international student caps” alongside other student issues. At the latest meeting of Students Against Austerity, members unanimously voted in favour of exploring this potential merger.
