Simon Fraser University (SFU), is named after the Scottish explorer,
Simon Fraser, and was founded in
1965. It is considered one of
Canada's best, and is located on unceded Coast Salish Territory in the city of
Burnaby,
British Columbia, with a second campus in
downtown Vancouver, a third in
Surrey, a fourth in
Kamloops, and a fifth being administered jointly by several post-secondary institutions -- the
Great Northern Way campus.
The Burnaby Mountain Campus is 174 hectares grand, and is formed up of several buildings all interlaced in the architectural style of Arthur Erickson and Geoffrey Massey. Its absolute geographic location is 49° 16' 40" N, -122° 55' 00" W. The Harbour Centre Campus was added in 1989, and is situated in the Spencer Building in Vancouver. It is 12663 square metres in gross area. Also, SFU has taken over TechBC programs in Surrey, now branding the campus as SFU Surrey. The Kamloops campus was created to increase First Nations enrolment, and offers programming in mathematics, archaeology, anthropology, linguistics, and First Nations studies.
Due to the Liberal provincial government, full-time tuition has risen to $600-900 per course. The university's student union, called the Simon Fraser Student Society is Local 23 of the Canadian Federation of Students, and lobbies for lower tuition, and accessible education.
SFU's student newspaper, The Peak, is packed with quality writing. It has a history of tending toward the political left. In 2003, I served first as humour, then as copy editor. Since then, I have been a regular contributor of illustrations and proof-reading services.
SFU's campus and community radio station is CJSF, found at 90.1 FM in Vancouver's Lower Mainland, and at www.cjsf.ca. CJSF is a proud supplier of alternative media.
When I was 10 and 11 years old, I used to participate in a summer program at SFU, called Mini-University; we took courses in Criminology, Programming, Fencing, Communications, etc. It was a terrific thing for avid minds, and it made us feel rather cool.
Summer 2002, I take human geography.
Autumn 2002, I take three political science, one women's studies, and one French course.
Spring 2003, I take one political science, and four women's studies courses.
Summer 2003, I take one political science course, two women's studies courses, and a course in contemporary Canadian theatre, and act as humour editor.
Autumn 2003, I take one political science, one anthropology, one geography, and one dance composition course, and act as copy editor.
Spring 2004, I take one political science and one art and culture studies course. I run in the SFSS general elections.
Summer 2004, I take one women's studies course. I am the SFSS' member services officer, an executive position in the Board of Directors. I sit on the university's Senate and Board of Governors.
Autumn 2004, I take one geography course. I am elected to the Simon Fraser University Community Trust.
Spring 2005, I take one political science course, and run in the SFSS general elections.
Summer 2005, I am the SFSS' external relations officer. I am re-elected to Senate, Board of Governors, and SFU Community Trust.
Important buildings:
Academic Quadrangle
RC Brown Hall
Shrum Science Centre
WAC Bennett Library
West Mall Centre
Maggie Benston Centre
Alumni involved in politics:
Grant McNally, (Conservative, Dewdney-Alouette)
Jan Christiansen, (PC, Prince George-Peace River)
Tom Chapman, (Liberal, Okanagan-Coquihalla)
Peter Warkentin, (Liberal, Surrey Central)
Francesca Zumpano, (Liberal, Burnaby Douglas and on SFU board of governors)
Lee Rankin, (Liberal, New Westminster-Coquitlam-Burnaby and former Burnaby councillor)
Bill Cunningham, (Liberal, Burnaby-Douglas, BC President of Liberal Party of Canada)
Shinder Purewal, (Liberal, Surrey North)
Dawn Paley, (Green, Maple Ridge-Mission)
Dave King, (Green, Port Moody-Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam)
Matthew Ferguson, (Green, West Vancouver-Capilano)
Wayne Fowler, (NDP, Okanagan-Shuswap)
Ernie Fulton, (NDP, Delta-South Richmond)
See also: British Columbia's Universities