Changing the name of the University of Moncton in New Brunswick would cost less than $1.2 million, says a committee of experts. In this way, he responds to the refusal of the university institution to continue to consider changing its name. The university suggests that the operation would cost at least 4.6 million. Almost four times more.
Last December, following a meeting, the university council, on this basis, refused to “extend the process of reflection on the name of the University of Moncton”. Its official report argued, in the preamble, that it is more important to devote the university’s financial resources to the implementation of its strategic plan rather than spending nearly 5 million to ensure a name change.
A committee of citizens, formed around several alumni of the university, was not convinced by the explanation. “Two large universities changed their names recently,” said one of the committee members during a press conference held on Tuesday. The group observes that, in these two cases as in others, “the costs were significantly lower” than what the administration of the University of Moncton puts forward to oppose the name change.
The case of the University of Wisconsin, which has 162,000 students, is mentioned. The bill to change its name amounted to US$480,000 (nearly CA$660,000). In the case of the University of Galway, in Ireland, an institution of 18,000 students, the bill reached almost €500,000 (approximately CA$730,000).
The University of Moncton has approximately 5,500 students. The costs to ensure its name change were nevertheless estimated by its management, last December, at more than 4.6 million dollars.
Deportation of the Acadians
However, a detailed analysis of the variables stated by the university arrives at a very different evaluation of the costs. The data in question was compiled and deciphered by André Leclerc, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Moncton; Michel Nadeau, former director of administrative services at the same university; Sylvio Boudreau, former vice-president of the general secretariat of the New Brunswick Community College; and Pierre Cadieux, former management professor at the University of Quebec at Rimouski.
According to the projections offered by this quartet in table form, the costs of such an operation could hardly exceed $1.2 million.
In their opinion, the figures given by the current university administration to justify the status quo are exaggerated, to say the least. They don’t hold up.
The University of Moncton takes its name from Robert Monckton (1726-1782), a high-ranking officer in the British colonial army. This soldier appears responsible for part of the deportation of the Acadians and the abuses committed against the Micmac people. The British officer had notably worked, during his career, to arrest Acadians, burn their villages and organize the deportation by boat of 1,100 of them.