Vancouver, Canada – (SFU) has recently announced that it intends to accept Bitcoin donations. The reason for this decision is that two SFU students are planning on attending an empowering programme for women in India, this fall, and the money raised through Bitcoin donations will help to fund their trip.
Simon Fraser University is the first post secondary school to both use and support the use of Bitcoins and Bitcoin donations in Canada. They are also currently deciding if they should accept Bitcoin digital currency as a form of payment in their bookstore and cafeteria based on campus.
Initially the Power of Engagement program was given a Bitcoin donation totalling $6,000, by SFU Alumnus Scott Nelson and Simon Fraser as well as Bitcoin Club President, Mike Yeung. This has then further encouraged the University to acknowledge the possibility that Bitcoins can be accepted throughout the University.
Young told in a recent Press Release:
“We are embracing Bitcoin because it is innovative, open source, entrepreneurial and fits well with SFU’s mission to engage the world,”
Simon Fraser University is widely known for its research and community spirit. It may therefore come as no surprise that in the future students may very well be able to pay their tuition fees with the use of Bitcoins. There is already a Bitcoin Club that is trying to pioneer the use of Bitcoin technology and as a form of payment. Many other Universities across the globe already accept the use of Bitcoins, for example, the University of Cumbria in Lancashire, England and King’s College, New York both accept Bitcoin donations for tuition fees. Live Bitcoin News also reported on the MIT COOPstory, in that they are now accepting Bitcoins as a form of payment.
The two students who will be embarking on the humanitarian co-op project are Laurie Macpherson and Lauren Shandley, and will be using the generous Bitcoin donations to travel to Kolkata, India, to work with a social enterprise, Destiny Reflection, that empowers the women who have been victims of human trafficking.
Staff, students and Bitcoin users can all make donations to this cause, but what is even more impressive is the two students can also use the Bitcoins to fund accommodation, to fund the areas and places that they can spend it, and to then document their findings, to help further explore and examine the use that Bitcoins play in the world’s economy. This will be done via blogs and video.