In June 2019, the Board of Regents of Victoria University requested that the Office of the President investigate the legacy of Egerton Ryerson due to his work in establishing the Residential School system in Canada, a system which led to the cultural genocide of Indigenous peoples for over a century.
Egerton Ryerson was the first President and Principal of Victoria University during its founding in 1836 as Upper Canada Academy. In 2019, Ryerson’s name was used for Ryerson House, a student residence on campus; the Ryerson Scholarship at Emmanuel College; and the Ryerson Graduate Scholarship at Victoria College. The Ryerson Stream of Victoria College’s first-year Vic One program was used to honour Egerton Ryerson as well, before the name was changed to the Education Stream in 2019.
Over the next two years, the Office of the President, led by Victoria University President William Robins, assembled a research panel consisting of four researchers, two of whom were Indigenous, to investigate Egerton Ryerson’s legacy.
Their findings, published in President Robins’s Presidential Report on the Legacy of Egerton Ryerson in June 2021, stated that Ryerson “was part of a colonizing enterprise aimed at ‘Christianizing’ and ‘civilizing Indigenous peoples.’” The research panel recommended that “Victoria University no longer use Ryerson’s name in an honorific manner” on the basis of these conclusions. In June 2021, President Robins “accept[ed] the findings of the Research Panel” and “recommend[ed] that the Board of Regents of Victoria University return the residence called ‘Ryerson House’ to its original name of ‘First House.’”
The findings of the Research Panel during Victoria University’s investigation of Egerton Ryerson are nothing new. As early as August 2010, X University’s Aboriginal Education Council had found that “Egerton Ryerson contributed to the concept of the residential school system” in their report, Egerton Ryerson, the Residential School System and Truth and Reconciliation.
When asked why Victoria University failed to address the honorific use of Ryerson’s name in the nine years since X University’s report brought Ryerson’s disturbing legacy to the public eye, Victoria University spokesperson Liz Taylor Surani directed The Strand to equity-related initiatives at the University instead.
Victoria University’s belated response to the honorific use of Egerton Ryerson’s name may reveal a trend in the University’s recent focus on issues of equity, inclusion, and diversity.
The Victoria University Strategic Framework 2021-2026 iterates a commitment to create “a strong, inclusive community” with specific commitments such as “expanding equity… initiatives across the University, with a special focus on antiracism.” The Strand was unable to find any other Strategic Frameworks or other formal commitments to equity from the University that existed prior to this document.
When asked which specific issues in relation to equity, diversity, and inclusion that the Strategic Framework intended to address, the Victoria University spokesperson stated that the University will be “[diving] into these intentions over the coming years.”
However, when asked about the specific equity, diversity, and inclusiveness initiatives that Victoria University has engaged in over the last five years, Victoria University told The Strand that “Victoria University’s administrative staff … completed anti-bias training” and that “anti-racism training and Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) customer service standards are provided to staff on an ongoing basis.” Additionally, “many faculty have been adding Indigenous content and coverage of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA) topics into their courses.”
Victoria University spokesperson Liz Taylor Surani also told The Strand that “the Dean has ensured that staff and student leaders, such as residence dons, receive additional training in EDIA issues, including bystander training, anti-bias training and peer mental health support.”
In collaboration with VUSAC, Surani stated that “the [Campus Life Coordinator] works … to organize specific events such as the National Day of Action on Violence Against Women,” as well as providing the “Equity in Careers series” and “an anti-racism panel during Orientation Week.” Victoria University said that “a position was created in November 2020 … for a counsellor to offer personal advising sessions for BIPOC-identified students” in response to student concerns and requests.
The University’s spokesperson declined to explain how past equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives have specifically helped faculty and students. The spokesperson referred The Strand to the Victoria University Strategic Framework when asked about the intended effects of such initiatives.
In addition to interviewing Victoria University staff, The Strand reached out to student organizations and leaders to ask about collaborative efforts with Victoria University administration on equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives over the last five years.
In an interview with The Strand, VUSAC President Jerico Raguindin said that Victoria University matched “a portion of all donations” to the BIPOC Leadership Award and Counselor campaign, “leading to a bit over 50K in funds raised” during the 2020-2021 school year. He also told The Strand that “there have been … lobbying efforts to Victoria University and the Dean’s Office to start collecting… equity-concerned data in order to inform decisions made about Victoria,” but that “not much progress has been made.”
Former VUSAC Vice President External and Equity Co-Chair Vibhuti Kacholia expanded on VUSAC’s lobbying efforts to the University, telling The Strand that “when I brought it up to administration, they told me that it would have to be a university-wide initiative as UofT dictates admissions and undergraduate statistics.”
Kacholia also elaborated on problems she faced in lobbying Victoria University administration, opining, “the biggest hurdles I faced at Vic was that there are so many hoops to jump through … for someone to listen. There’s just a ton that happens behind closed doors at Vic that students are not aware of, and many important decision makers at the University are not student facing.”
The Strand also spoke to students at Victoria College about their experiences and thoughts about equity at the school.
Liv, a first-year student at Victoria College who uses she/they pronouns and asked to be identified by their first name, said that “it’s been a little bit difficult to navigate accessibility services” in her time at the University, and noted that “some professors could be more understanding and open with students’ pronouns.” When asked about the renaming of Ryerson House, they said that “it’s a good step” but “they could also do some other work to make sure that Indigenous voices are heard.” In addressing the names of other buildings on the Victoria College campus, she said that “it can feel a little alienating if they’re only using one specific type of person.”
Many of the named buildings and areas on the Victoria College campus are all named after white, cisgendered, and heterosexual individuals who were generally born around the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Other students noted how Victoria University itself is named after Queen Victoria, who was the British and Canadian monarch between 1837 and 1901. During Queen Victoria’s reign, the British Empire colonized large parts of the world, and Queen Victoria herself has become a symbol of colonialism to many communities.
Victoria University’s spokesperson declined to comment on student statements collected by The Strand.
A lot of the modern world clings to old world biases and beliefs without reason. And when this generation of “woke” individuals call for justice or reform, only the bare minimum happens. I think you did a lovely job of showing this in a more local environment.