There has been a lot of buzz around campus regarding the rally on THURSDAY, JAN 27th at 3 PM in front of Harbour Centre. The group SFU against Goldcorp and Gentrification is hosting the rally, which is going to take place in front of the Board of Governor's meeting to protest the $10 000 000 donation made by Goldcorp to the Centre for the Contemporary Arts. So what's the big deal? Contemporary Arts used to be in portable classrooms, right? Don't we love the arts?

Of course. The issue is not about contemporary arts. We love artists. Art is a cornerstone of our society. It's part of what makes us human, and it is so important that we recognize that importance at an institutional level by providing our emerging artists with classroom, studio, and performance space, and through adequate funding.

What SAGG is protesting is the lack of transparency surrounding the donation from Goldcorp. The Board of Governors' refusal to engage in dialogue--the very cornerstone of higher education--with every group that makes up our university: faculty, undergraduate students, graduate students, and workers of all kinds.  The head-in-the-sand approach to the donation, which not only effaces any questions surrounding the ethics and practices of the donor company, but also refuses to acknowledge that to accept this kind of donation is to relish in the privatization of the university. Education should be public. Post-secondary institutions should not be relying on the charity-washing practices of multinational corporations to provide adequate infrastructure to its faculties and schools.

But perhaps most importantly, when every branch of the institution is demanding accountability and asking for an opportunity to engage in dialogue with the Board of Governors, and that board refuses to hear our voices, we should sound the alarm. What has happened to our system? Is it truly so fundamentally broken that students and faculty can no longer even add agenda items to a meeting? When the board of governors refuses to hear our voices when we try and use the channels they provide for us, it's time for us to make our own channels.

Come out and rally against backroom deals. Against shutting down dialogue. Demand a better institution. Demand to be heard.

Meet us in front of Harbour Centre. 3 pm. Thursday, January 27th. We need you.