Toronto Metropolitan University enters the second phase of renaming its sports teams and choosing a new mascot. 

A short list of names chosen by the community were announced this month to replace the previous name, Ryerson Rams. 

The shortlisted names are the Bold, The Meteors, the Towers and the Metropolitan Towers. Proposed mascots are the bee, the caribou, the meteor, the moose, the squirrel and the tower. 

Since changing the name of the school from Ryerson to Toronto Metropolitan, an online survey was launched in May for students, staff and community members to submit their ideas for the new name and mascot. 

This phase, which ran until July 19, is seeking further input on the shortlisted ideas. However, the school writes that this is not a direct vote on the options as of yet. A recent press release reads that the committee recognizes that "other options have not been put forward or explored yet." 

Any new ideas will also be reviewed and considered along with the shortlist until the choose are officially announced by the school. 

The online survey was sent to community members, students and alumni, but the school also accepted email responses and Twitter submissions with the hashtag, #TorontoMetMascot. 

Changing the previous sports team name and the mascot Eggy the Ram are part of the 22 recommendations the university accepted from the Standing Strong Task force in 2021, who were commissioned to address the colonial legacy of Egerton Ryerson, the school’s namesake. 

Egerton Ryerson was a leading figure in the introduction of Canada's residential school system. Eggy was named after Ryerson in the 1960s when the school was called Ryerson Polytechnic Institute.  

Before the name change of the school to Toronto Metropolitan University this summer, co-chair of the taskforce and provost Professor Jennifer Simpson said in an interview that of the expected changes to the athletic names. 

The royal blue and gold colours of the school and its sports teams will not change, Simpson said.  

A revised short list after July 19 will be sent to president and vice co-chair Mohamed Lachemi.  A final decision will be announced prior to the start of the 2022-2023 academic year. 

CJRU reached out to Professor Simpson, the office of Lachemi and the Standing Strong Task force, to comment on the current phase and when a tentative date for the announcement is expected. 

CJRU is awaiting a response. 

More details to come. 

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