It is the Metropolitan University of Toronto the first Canadian institution after high school to change its name amid a wider revision of the full legacy left by the historical figures to whom so many of our schools, buildings and monuments are named.
As complex portraits of Canadian historical figures and their institutions of the same name emerge, CBC News asked historians and sociologists how the post-secondary sector is struggling with this sensitive issue.
Why name changes are happening now
There is a growing awareness and recognition of the ugly parts of our history, including systemic racism experienced by blacks and local communities, as well as other marginalized groups. The discovery of unmarked graves in residential schools in various parts of Canada, in particular, has led people to ask new and deeper questions about how we got to where we are.
Specifically, a group was assigned to the University of Toronto Metropolitan (TMU) reconsideration of the legacy of former namesake Egerton Ryerson. The 19th-century Methodist minister and advocate of public education had a vision of compulsory agricultural-based and religious education for indigenous students, conducted separately from non-local learners. His ideas went into creating the resident school system, and his actions as head of education informed racially segregated schools in Canada. Ultimately, the TMU task force offered 22 recommendationsincluding a change in the name of the school, which took effect on April 26.
People are walking around the campus of the current University of Toronto University on April 26. Although the former Ryerson University has a new name, the change will take place in stages, according to its president, Mohamed Lachemi. (Evan Mitsui / CBC)
These types of conversations are a reminder that history – and the notion of heritage – is evolving, said Barrington Walker, a history professor at Wilfried Lorie University, adding that campuses are also a logical place for these types of discussions.
He noted that in the 1960s, when the post-secondary education sector began to diversify and more women, races and people with disabilities began attending universities, these students began to demand that their institutions meet higher ideals. for equality and diversity.
Perhaps what has changed over time is that there are now “more places that are willing to look at their history and fight their history,” Walker said.
“Universities are part of what’s happening in the bigger society.”
The continuing damage to historical names
Seeing institutions release the names of people whose past involved harming marginalized groups shows that “people listen and” they also act according to calls for action from [Truth and Reconciliation Commission]“Said Cora Voyager, a professor of sociology at the University of Calgary and a member of Athabasca Chipeuyan of the first nation.
“The trauma that the indigenous people, mostly people of the first nation, have experienced is real,” Voyager said. “Each of these racist images we have had in the past, we need to rethink them and change our way of thinking.”
In the spring of 2019, for example, McGill University agreed to change the name of its university men’s sports teams – dropping the term widely recognized as offensive to indigenous peoples – after renewed campaign led by a local student athlete after years of complaints from earlier students about the discriminatory name.
Voyageur wants these conversations and history lessons to continue at all levels of education. The people and communities affected by this story are still with us, and the future decision-makers in Canada are today’s students, she said.
“People may feel uncomfortable with ugly parts of Canadian history, but you don’t have to like it … You just have to admit it’s part of our history,” said Cora Voyager, a sociology professor at the University of Calgary. member of the first nation Athabasca Chipeuan. (Jodi O Photography)
“This is something that stains Canadian society… Canada needs to realize that we have a racist history,” she said, citing a wide range of harmful and discriminatory policies from those against first nations to Incident with Komagata Maruon internment of Japanese-Canadians, Chinese head tax and more.
The sociology professor says people sometimes react defensively to this type of conversation, saying it was not part of those decisions made a century ago.
“I’m not asking you to take responsibility for that,” she said. “I’m just asking you to teach him. You don’t have to like him, you don’t have to feel comfortable with him – you just have to admit that this is part of our story.”
Dalhousie University delved into its history, but did not change its name. Why not?
In 2019, the commission completed its study in the history of racism at Dalhousie University, links to the transatlantic slave system and what he describes as a “problem story” of the school’s founder in Halifax, the former vice-governor of Nova Scotia, who benefited from the sugar, molasses and rum trade. early 19th century century. The final report called for a formal apology, a provincial memorial and other reparations, but without a name change.
The Dalhousie panel aimed to bring about significant change that will affect current and future students, such as improving the experience of black students and developing the first major in black and African diaspora studies at a Canadian university, said Isaac Sani, a historian. from the University of Dalhousie and chairman of the commission designing the new specialty. (Dalhousie University)
The name change was indeed under discussion, but was not part of the official mandate, according to Dalhousie historian Isaac Sani, a member of the commission. Instead, the focus was on making a historical assessment, “but also introducing recommendations that could lead to a significant change in [the university’s] connection with this heritage – and with the African community of Nova Scotia, “he explained.
“We wanted to go beyond symbolic change, and we really wanted to have a series of concrete recommendations that not only push the university forward in a sense, but also lead to the kind of meaningful change you want to have.
He pointed to solid changes, such as recruiting more blacks and developing the first black and African diaspora research major at a Canadian university, the Development Committee, of which he now serves as chairman.
“No one is saying that Lord Dalhousie should be erased from history. “People say it needs to be put in the right historical context,” Sani said. “When we do these things, we signal what kind of society we would like to create: a fairer, fairer society.
Similarly, TMU also said it would change its name with more action.
“This is an ongoing work that has just begun, but it is a long journey,” said TMU President Mohamed Lachemi.
Are other schools reconsidering their namesakes?
These talks are indeed taking place in many institutions. Some defenders continue to insist on greater recognition of the complex history of the noun, including McGill University in Quebec. Other institutions have renamed individual buildings, such as Ontario Windsor University and Queen’s University.
Wilfried Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont was established the Laurier Legacy project to review the story of the seventh Prime Minister of Canada, who helped Canada raise wealth and fame on the world stage while creating a discriminatory immigration policy against Chinese, Japanese, Indian and African Americans.
“In many ways, historical records have not been excavated nearly as fully as they should be,” said Walker, who serves as associate vice president of the School of Justice, Diversity and Inclusion, and as a professor of history.
“Universities are part of what’s happening in the wider community,” said Barrington Walker, a history professor at Wilfried Lorie University and associate vice president of the School of Justice, Diversity and Inclusion. (Wilfried Lorie University)
“There is also a belief that after people have written about the past, they have written it and it has been done, but different historians will ask different questions, even on historical records that seem very familiar to people. They will bring different eyes, different experiences. “
The project will not avoid revealing ugly details, Walker said. The hope is to address these elements, inspire deep reflection and develop best practices to make the university more diverse and open to groups that traditionally do not have access to post-secondary education.
“Apart from my historian’s hat, this is the point of this work: to show that we can live up to the best version of ourselves.”
I am a graduate of what is now TMU. Do I receive new graduation documents?
Alumni should note that his legal name remains Ryerson University until an amendment to the Ryerson University of Ontario Act is passed. Due to the forthcoming provincial elections, this part of the change has been postponed.
“Until then [change] “We will continue to issue all legal documents (including parchment conventions) with the old name, Ryerson University,” Lahemi said.
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