RSS

This is how Toronto reacted to Ryerson's decision to officially change its name

After months of public pressure, Ryerson University has finally announced that it will change its name, severing ties to the institution's namesake, Egerton Ryerson, an architect of Canada's blood-soaked Indigenous residential school system.

Reactions to the news have been largely positive. The general sentiment from students and faculty seems to be one of relief that the school will finally be renamed, a necessary step in relegating Ryerson's name and legacy to the history books.

Calls to rename the school have been growing louder for months, amplified by findings of thousands of childrens' remains in unmarked graves.

Tensions and demonstrations escalated sharply after these grim discoveries, culminating in an almost ceremonial removal of Ryerson's statue.

Students have been reacting en masse to the news.

Much of the student body had already been referring to the school as "University X", as student publications applied further pressure by vowing to change their titles.

Alumni are also reacting positively to the name change while still showing pride for their alma mater.

Other Ryerson alumni are wondering aloud if they can get a re-printed degree sans the racism.

Still, some think we are a long way from true reconciliation, with countless municipalities, streets, and other places named for people we should no longer seek to honour.

Reactions were not universally supportive, with some suggesting that re-branding from a well-known name like Ryerson might affect the school's recognizability.

Others are concerned about who will foot the bill for what will certainly be a costly rebranding.

Ryerson has not announced a new name, and plenty of unsolicited suggestions are, of course, being floated around online.

Some of these are serious conversations, but this is Twitter, so we also have to highlight the ridiculous ones.

Some proposed names seem straight out of left field.

In this case, a call to rename the school for a defunct baseball team from Cleveland appears to take the "left field" saying to a very real place.

Do these names make sense? No. Are they hilarious? Clearly.

The Ryerson saga appears far from over, but for now, we'll just have to wonder what "University X" will be calling itself next.




  • Digg
  • Del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • RSS

0 comments:

Post a Comment