Ryerson University to rename journalism school publications ahead of new school year

A general view of the Ryerson University campus in Toronto, is seen on Thursday, January 17, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO -

Ryerson University's school of journalism says it will rename two of its publications ahead of the new school year, dropping any reference to the man the school is named after.

The department says in a statement it will change the name of the Ryerson Review of Journalism magazine and the Ryersonian newspaper to remove the reference to Egerton Ryerson.

The school says Egerton Ryerson was "indisputably" one of the architects of the residential school system.

The change comes after conversations with students who the school says felt that the "horrific legacy" of the residential school system was too great to continue using the Ryerson name in the mastheads.

The statement comes a day after a statue of Egerton Ryerson was vandalized with red paint and graffiti.

An evening vigil was held at the statue on Monday in memory of 215 children whose remains were found at the site of a former Kamloops, B.C. residential school.

The school of journalism says a new committee has been formed to engage students in the process of renaming the mastheads and support Indigenous creatives in the design.

The school says its goal is to have new names in place for the newspaper and the magazine in the fall.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2021.