The University of Moncton will not prolong the name change debate.
University Council President Denis Mallet confirmed this at a press conference on Saturday afternoon.
He added that the university says it wants to focus on a strategy and tools to contextualize the origin of the name.
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The University of Moncton Council met later Saturday.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Louis-Philippe Trozzo
According to him, the Council deliberated for a long time before reaching this decision.
This is particularly due to the fact that the name of the largest French-speaking university in the Atlantic provinces does not refer to Robert Monckton, a British colonial administrator who was actively involved in the deportation of Acadians in the 18th century.
I think we all understand each other [pour dire] that the name of the university was chosen based on a geographical location […] and not from the character Monckton.
No consensus
The committee also noted that there was no consensus within Acadian society on changing the name of the University of Moncton.
There is a citizens' committee that signed a petition, but if we look at the other people who were added during the process, we see that the interest of the university community was less. . “We saw that there was no enthusiasm for the name change among students, faculty and staff at the university,” added Denis Mallet.
On December 1, historian Maurice Basque and political scientist Stéphanie Chouinard presented their report on the name change of the Université de Moncton. An analysis found that changing that university's name could cost up to $4.6 million.
According to Denis Mallet, the costs associated with the name change were not a decisive factor in the University Council's decision.
Supporters of a name change disappointed
Lise Ouellette, one of the speakers for the citizens' committee that advocated for a name change, reacted with disappointment but also surprise when the university's decision was announced.
We saw this name change as a gesture of affirmation of the university on behalf of the French-speaking and Acadian community and as a positioning for the future. The university did not go in this direction, she told Téléjournal Acadie on Saturday evening.
She rejects the arguments of the University Council, which insists that the university was named after the city where its main campus is located, rather than in honor of the historical figure Robert Monckton.
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Interview with Lise Ouellette on April 16 in Edmundston.
Photo: Radio-Canada
I hear comments that it was the geographical name that led to the name [l’Université de] Moncton, answers Lise Ouellette. It's not that. This served to ease linguistic tensions at the time.
At the time the university was founded in 1963, the province was not bilingual, and the city obviously wasn't either, she continues. That was the reason and the context justified it very well, doesn't justify it anymore. And in fact, it is a detriment to community validation.
Low interest among students
Maurice Basque and Stéphanie Chouinard also emphasized in their report that students were hardly consulted in this debate.
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Denis Mallet, President of the University Council, Saturday afternoon.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Louis-Philippe Trozzo
Therefore, when asked how the committee could be sure that the issue of changing the university's name was not of interest to the university community, Denis Mallet indicated that this issue had not been raised during the University of Moncton's strategic planning consultations.
The lack of expression on the public stage clearly shows that students have other priorities, said Étienne Bélanger, president of the Moncton University Campus Students' Union (FÉCUM), on Saturday.
When students have something that is important to them, we usually hear it and then we see it. “We didn’t hear them and we didn’t see them,” noted Abby Godin, the student representative on the University Council.
Lise Ouellette indicated that the committee of which she is a member will meet in the coming days to discuss and decide what to do with the process.