Dear All,
You may have heard that the University is closing Louis Riel House, the only accommodation for families at SFU. Also, they are providing no alternatives housing for this group of students. The letter below has been circulated to academic women and I am hoping that you would also be willing to sign. Also, please do circulate this to any other contacts you have who may be interested in seeing this issue resolved so that the students involved can have housing on campus.
Please have everyone respond to me at
mcohen@sfu.ca This letter will be read at the rally on Wednesday at 12:30 in the AQ green. But I will wait a few days (to acquire the maximum signatures) to send it to the President and members of the Board of Director.
Best,
Marjorie
President Andrew Petter
Board of Directors, Simon Fraser University
Dear President Petter and Directors:
We are writing in support of the residents of Louis Riel
House who have been recently informed that their accommodation will not be
available after August. Since this
is the only family housing provided on campus, this will cause considerable
hardship for all students living there.
But it is a problem especially for families living there because it
appears that no other housing at SFU will be made available.
.We are aware that Louis Riel House was a financial lifeline
and a genuine community in which students, and especially those with young
children grew and thrived. If SFU
does not either provide alternate housing or fix the problems in Louis Riel
House, this will mean the end of SFU education for many who will not be able to
afford off-campus housing and attend university.
We feel very strongly that SFU should continue to offer this
kind of housing on campus. It is
surprising to us that the Board of Directors and the Administration could not
have anticipated the problems with this housing in time to make alternate
arrangements on campus for Louis Riel House tenants.
We agree that it is not acceptable by any standard to house people
in units that are insufficiently heated and which have mould, but we also feel
that it is unacceptable to remove residents without providing a realistic
alternative. We therefore call upon the university to provide long-term,
affordable housing for these vulnerable students by September 1, 2015
Sincerely,
Faculty Signatures