How new names, refreshed studies of history are inspiring change at Canada’s universities

Toronto Metropolitan College is the first Canadian post-secondary establishment to alter its identify amid a wider re-examination of the complete legacies left by the historic figures after whom so a lot of our colleges, buildings and monuments are named. 

As sophisticated portraits emerge about Canadian historic figures and their eponymous establishments, CBC Information requested historians and a sociologist about how the post-secondary sector is grappling with this delicate challenge. 

Why identify adjustments are taking place now

There’s rising consciousness and acknowledgement of the ugly components of our historical past, together with the systemic racism skilled by Black and Indigenous communities, in addition to different marginalized teams. The invention of unmarked graves at residential colleges in varied areas throughout Canada, specifically, prompted folks to ask new and deeper questions on how we bought to the place we’re.

Particularly at Toronto Metropolitan College (TMU), a bunch was tasked with re-examining the legacy of former namesake Egerton Ryerson. The Nineteenth-century Methodist minister and public training advocate had a imaginative and prescient of obligatory, agricultural labour- and religious-based instruction for Indigenous college students, held individually from non-Indigenous learners. His concepts went into the creation of the residential faculty system, and his actions as superintendent of training knowledgeable racially segregated colleges in Canada. The TMU job pressure in the end proposed 22 recommendations, together with a reputation change for the college that went into impact April 26.

These sorts of conversations are a reminder that historical past — and the notion of legacy — evolves, stated Barrington Walker, a historical past professor at Wilfrid Laurier College, including that campuses are additionally a logical place for these sorts of discussions.

He famous how within the Sixties, when the post-secondary sector started to diversify, and extra ladies, racialized folks and folks with disabilities started attending college, these college students started demanding their establishments reside as much as greater beliefs of equality and variety.

Maybe what has modified over time is that now “there are extra locations which can be keen to try their histories and to grapple with their histories,” Walker stated. 

“Universities are a part of what is going on on within the bigger society.” 

The continued hurt of historic names

Seeing establishments drop names of individuals whose previous included inflicting hurt on marginalized teams, exhibits that “individuals are listening and … they’re additionally performing on the calls to action from the [Truth and Reconciliation Commission],” stated Cora Voyageur, a sociology professor on the College of Calgary and member of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.

“The trauma that has been skilled by Indigenous folks, primarily First Nation folks, is actual,” Voyageur stated. “Any of these racist tropes that we have had up to now, we now have to rethink these and alter our mindset.”

In spring 2019 for instance, McGill College agreed to alter the identify of its varsity males’s sports activities groups — dropping a time period widely known as offensive to Indigenous folks — after a renewed campaign led by an Indigenous student athlete following years of complaints from earlier college students concerning the discriminatory identify.

Voyageur desires to see these conversations and historical past classes proceed throughout all ranges of training. Individuals and communities harmed by this historical past are nonetheless amongst us, and Canada’s future decision-makers are immediately’s college students, she stated. 

“That is one thing that may be a stain on Canadian society … Canada has to comprehend that we now have a racist historical past,” she stated, citing a variety of dangerous and discriminatory insurance policies from these in opposition to First Nations to the Komagata Maru incident, the internment of Japanese-Canadians, the Chinese head tax and extra. 

The sociology professor says folks generally react defensively to these kind of conversations, saying they weren’t a part of these choices made a century in the past. 

“I am not asking you to take accountability for it,” she stated. “I am simply asking you to study it. You do not have to love it, you do not have to really feel comfy with it — you simply must acknowledge that that is a part of our historical past.”

Dalhousie College dug into its historical past, however did not change its identify. Why not?

In 2019, a panel concluded its exploration into Dalhousie College’s historical past of racism, hyperlinks to the transatlantic slave system and what it described because the “problematic historical past” of the RisePEI faculty’s founder, the previous Nova Scotia lieutenant governor who had profited from the sugar, molasses and rum commerce within the early Nineteenth century. The final report known as for an official apology, a provincial memorial and different reparations, however no identify change.

Altering the identify was certainly mentioned however wasn’t a part of the official mandate, in keeping with Dalhousie historian Isaac Saney, a member of the panel. As an alternative, the main target was on conducting a historic analysis “but in addition bringing about suggestions that would result in substantive change in [the university’s] relationship with this legacy — and with the African Nova Scotian neighborhood,” he defined. 

“We wished to transcend symbolic change, and we actually wished to have a collection of concrete suggestions that may not solely, in a way, push the college ahead however convey concerning the sort of significant change you need to have.”

He pointed to strong adjustments in place, similar to recruiting extra Black school and creating the primary Black and African Diaspora Research main at a Canadian college — a improvement committee on which he is now serving as chair.

“No one is saying that Lord Dalhousie must be erased from historical past. Individuals are saying he must be positioned within the correct historic context,” Saney famous. “After we do this stuff, we’re signalling what sort of society we wish to create: a extra simply, extra equitable society.”

Likewise, TMU additionally stated it will be following up its identify change with extra motion. 

“It is an ongoing work that simply began, nevertheless it’s a protracted journey,” stated TMU president Mohamed Lachemi.

Are different colleges re-examining their namesakes?

These conversations are certainly taking place at many establishments. Some advocates proceed to push for extra recognition of a namesake’s sophisticated historical past, together with at Quebec’s McGill University. Different establishments have renamed particular person buildings, like at Ontario’s University of Windsor and Queen’s University.

Wilfrid Laurier College in Waterloo, Ont., has created the Laurier Legacy Project to revisit the historical past of Canada’s seventh prime minister, who helped propel Canada to wealth and prominence on the world stage whereas additionally creating discriminatory immigration insurance policies in opposition to Chinese language, Japanese, Indian and African American folks.

“In some ways the historic file hasn’t been mined almost as absolutely accurately,” stated Walker, who serves as the college’s affiliate vice-president of fairness, range and inclusion in addition to a historical past professor.

“There’s additionally a notion that after folks have written concerning the previous, they’ve written it and it has been completed, however totally different historians will convey totally different inquiries to even historic data that appear very acquainted to folks. They will convey totally different eyes, totally different lived experiences.”

The mission will not keep away from unearthing ugly particulars, Walker stated. The hope is to grapple with these components, encourage deep reflection and develop finest practices on making the college extra numerous and open to teams who have not historically had entry to post-secondary training. 

“Except for my historian’s hat, that is the purpose of doing this work: to point out that we will reside as much as the very best model of ourselves.”

I am an alumnus of what is now TMU. Do I get new grad paperwork?

Alumni ought to notice that its authorized identify stays Ryerson College till an modification to Ontario’s Ryerson College Act is handed. With a provincial election imminent, that a part of the change is on maintain. 

“Till that [change] takes place, we’ll proceed to challenge all authorized paperwork (together with parchments at convocation) with the previous identify, Ryerson College,” Lachemi stated. “We are going to talk extra particulars to our alumni about how you can get your paperwork with the brand new identify sooner or later.”