Toronto’s Ryerson University to be renamed

The President of Ryerson University in Toronto says its governors have approved a motion to accept all 22 recommendations from a special task force to rename the school.

The announcement comes after the final report was released from the task force that was created in September of 2020 to find a new name and “reconcile the legacy of Egerton Ryerson.”

The Standing Strong Task Force started work in March, wrapping up consultations in mid-May. It reviewed submissions from more than 11,000 respondents, the university said.

“One of the report recommendations is for the university to develop an action plan by January 31, 2022, to address and implement the Task Force’s recommendations,” said Mohamed Lachemi, President and Vice-Chancellor of Ryerson University.

Egerton Ryerson is considered an architect of Canada’s residential school system aimed to convert and assimilate Indigenous children into white Canadian culture.

“The report provides a full picture of the past and present commemoration of Egerton Ryerson, yet the recommendations are not based on either vilification or vindication of the individual,” Lachemi added.

“We will honour that commitment and I assure our community that a process will be put in place to ensure that the recommendations are carried out in an equitable, transparent, inclusive and timely manner. All recommendations related to academics and program delivery will be referred to Senate prior to the completion of the implementation action plan.”

This summer, the university’s First Nations-led Yellowhead Institute issued an open letter saying their students and staff would no longer use the school’s name in their email signatures and social media accounts and would replace it with “X University.”

RELATED: 

• Sit-in held in front of Ryerson statue to mourn 215 children found buried at Kamloops residential school

• Ryerson Review of Journalism temporarily cuts ‘Ryerson’ from its name

The letter was published May 11, a few days before Ryerson’s Standing Strong (Mash Koh Wee Kah Pooh Win) Task Force wrapped up its two-month investigation.

The group included academics, faculty and students, both past and present and was asked to conduct “broad consultations” with students, faculty, staff, alumni and others.

Indigenous professors at Ryerson University also asked the school to change its name and remove the statue because of Egerton’s role in the creation of Canada’s residential school system.

The move followed a heated rally outside the university in July, that saw Egerton Ryerson’s statue defaced and eventually toppled to the ground.

The statue was felled about an hour after the conclusion of a demonstration protesting the university’s continued use of Ryerson’s name. Demonstrators splattered the statue with paint, then cut off the statue’s head, carried it to the Lakeshore and lowered it by rope into the water.

The President of the university confirmed at the time that the school would not replace the statue.

The statue had become a rallying point in Toronto following the discovery of what is believed to be the remains of 215 students buried in unmarked graves on the grounds of a former residential school in Kamloops, B.C.

On June 25,  the discovery of as many as 751 unmarked graves was made near the former site of Marieval Indian Residential School in Marieval, Sask. on the lands of Cowessess First Nation.

In May 2021, the Cowessess First Nation announced it would search the site using ground-penetrating radar in collaboration with a group from Saskatchewan Polytechnic.

There have also been calls to rename Dundas Street in Toronto – which happens to be the southern border of Ryerson University’s campus – because its namesake, Henry Dundas, delayed the abolition of slavery in Britain by 15 years.

City Council approved the renaming in July.

A new name will be chosen in April 2022 following public input. The renaming will include prominent city landmarks like Yonge-Dundas Square and Dundas subway station.