The Occupy movement has spread to Simon Fraser University, with a dozen students working to create an "open university" at the Burnaby campus.
"We're trying to democratize education," said SFU communications student Joseph Leivdal, a Burnaby resident and one of the organizers.
The group is identifying with the Occupy movement, a global wave of protests against social and economic inequality, but unlike their counterparts, the SFU students are not organizing blockades or pitching tents on campus.
Instead, they want to highlight underfunding from the provincial government and organize free public teach-ins on campus.
"Thirty per cent of Canadians who don't go to school don't go to school because of tuition rates. It's an affordability issue," said Leivdal.
Leivdal described the open-university concept as a series of teach-ins on a variety of topics, particularly social problems. Professors or students can lead a half-hour session, followed by an open discussion. Two professors are already onside with the idea, and Leivdal is hoping to recruit more.
"The goal is to really democratize education, to get information out there and get the community engaged," Leivdal said. "It's not just a professor lecturing the students, it's the whole community engaged."
The teach-ins should start in January, and Occupy SFU will likely have a website up soon with more information. In the meantime, people can check the group out on Twitter @occupysfu, or search OccupyEducation on Facebook.
Occupy SFU is part of a wider movement that's organizing with other Occupy groups from UBC, Emily Carr University and Capilano University.
