The recent decision by the school formerly known as Ryerson University to rename itself should not be criticized as any kind of ‘cancel culture’ but instead celebrated as an important step towards inclusivity in academia.
The school’s namesake, Egerton Ryerson, is widely acknowledged as an “architect” of the Canadian Residential School System.
Especially now, Canada must make academia more inclusive. In the past, education was weaponized to harm Indigenous communities; in the present and in the future, it must be used to promote equity, diversity and inclusion. This cannot occur if post-secondary institutions are named after figures whose actions were wholly contrary to these values.
It is important to acknowledge the cultural barriers that Indigenous students face at post-secondary institutions. A survey from Indspire, a national Indigenous charity, found that many Indigenous students experienced feelings of loneliness, isolation and pain due to a lack of cultural acknowledgement at their respective schools.
These feelings must be meaningfully addressed and lend themselves to the importance of Ryerson’s decisions. Any opportunity to create more inclusive spaces for Indigenous students and communities should be welcomed and promoted.
Still, some critics have spoken against the renaming efforts, saying that the standards for tolerance and political correctness are too high. These criticisms should be dismissed.
Of course, more work must be done for Indigenous students at universities than just symbolic changes. In this area, Canada is seeing hopeful improvements. According to Universities Canada, 80 per cent of universities have or are developing a strategic plan for reconciliation. Some universities are merging Indigenous knowledge into their course curriculums.
While we wait for more systemic improvements, symbolic gestures like Ryerson’s can help alleviate some of the feelings of cultural isolation that Indigenous students have felt. These actions are small when scaled against all the needed improvements, but they are impactful nevertheless.
Thus, we must appreciate the university’s decision to rename itself and continue striving to make academia more inclusive for Indigenous students.
Featured graphic from file.
