The University of Alberta announced Tuesday afternoon that the unilingual English sign installed at the entrance to Campus Saint-Jean “will be immediately removed” and replaced by a new one that “reflects the unique French-speaking cultural identity of the campus.” .
The university explains the change in display by a desire to “ [s’]align with its new institutional brand image.”
“The omission of the French-speaking dimension on the entrance sign to Campus Saint-Jean is a significant and regrettable error,” the establishment declared in a press release. We apologize to the French-speaking communities and members of the Campus Saint-Jean community. »
On Monday, a manager of the Association canadienne-française de l’Alberta (ACFA), Amy Vachon-Chabot, shared on X — formerly Twitter — a photo of the new sign, devoid of French. The next day, the ACFA described the gesture as “Anglo-normative” and called on the establishment to reverse its decision.
Concerns remain
Joined Tuesday late afternoon by The dutythe president of the ACFA, Pierre Asselin, said he was “encouraged” by the “rapid and favorable” response from the university, but several “concerns” remained.
“The spirit of this decision worries me. They’re going to put the sign back up, that’s all well and good, but where did this idea come from that there was a logic to doing that,” he says on the line. “Whether it was a mistake, we accept the apology, but how do mistakes like this continue to happen? », he adds, this time describing the institution’s gesture as “assimilatory” and “lack of respect towards the Francophonie in Alberta”.
“Place of memory”, Campus Saint-Jean, headed by the University of Alberta, is the only post-secondary institution in French west of Manitoba, recalls Pierre Asselin.
The latter believes that fears about the preservation of “the dominant French aspect of Campus Saint-Jean” and its “community, cultural and social role” have been particularly numerous since last year. “It’s been boiling a little bit below for a long time, and then, it’s enough. »
The ACFA is particularly concerned about the “lack of consultation” on the part of the university. Last week, Radio-Canada reported that several Francophone organizations in Alberta were alarmed by the redevelopment of a “historic room” on Campus Saint-Jean, which they believe was carried out without prior consultation, which the university denies. According to them, the room housed important memorial objects.
An ad hoc committee responsible for studying the situation and establishing an action plan met. A meeting with senior management at the University of Alberta is also planned “very soon,” says Mr. Asselin.
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.