PHOTO: PEYTON KEELER-COX ILLUSTRATION:
VANESSA KAUK
Volume 56 - Issue 2 September 15, theeyeopener.com2022@theeyeopenerSince1967
Editorial: Bring back last year’s TMSU election energy this year
Communities
Media
Sierra “TTC Ambassador ” FinMarcokelshtain“Newbie” Muia
News
Rochelle “We Miss U So Much” RajalaxmiRaveendran“Speedy” Nayak
Vanessa “Not The TTC” Tiberio Lauren “Health is Wealth” Battagello
Vanessa “Walking Jays Ad” Kauk Peyton “IMA Plug” Keeler-Cox
Just over six months ago, the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) student body made their voices heard and participated to create change on campus by voting for an independent president to head the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU).
As we head into a new academic year, the TMSU has already been plagued with many ailments. Before the fall 2022 semester even started, two TMSU executives resigned.
On campus, it was a buzzing topic as finally, there was an independent body coming onto the TMSU. There was finally hope to turn an organization heavily embedded in scandal and controversy into a beacon of hope and advocacy for TMU students.
Go to TMSU meetings, regularly keep up with their programming and push for them to act on change you wish to see within the community. Remember that your
Fun and Satire Zarmminaa “Aju Nice’d!” Rehman
Abby “Fancy Shmancy” Hughes Features
Sonia “TIFF’d Up” Khurana Youdon “Manifesting Blackpink Tix” Tenzin
General Manager
J.D. “Dollar Peppers” Mowat
Because we know what happens when we forget who really has the power. (Credit card scandals, broken bylaws, all your dime).
Chris “Money Money!” Roberts
VANESSA KAUK/THE EYEOPENER
Business and Technology Christina “I’m a Flores-ChanCharlotte”
Asha “Transfer Baddie” Swann Sports
Abeer “Consolation Caramel Macchiato” Khan
That being said, heading into this new year, I urge all students to be aware of what’s happening at your students’ union and be as proactive as you were last year. Let’s bring that same energy back this fall because as much as we all hoped things would be different this year, they are not.
Jack “Three-man Security Escort” MacCool
Samira “Biz & Tech Vet” Balsara Gabriela “What’s Our Real Name” Silva Ponte
Editor-in-Chief
Arts and Culture
reality. Now, not so much.
Jes “Panic Texting” Mason
Photo
EDITORIAL2
Alexandra “Harden Scott Lover” Holyk
Gavin “RJ means Rain Jacket” Axelrod
Advertising Manager
Chloe “Tote Bag Queen” Bard Nashra “Next Level” Syed Andrew “Hard Body” Yang Jaden “Is Fork” Ho Olga “PR Puzzles” Bergmans
Mariana “Prophecy Unfolder” Schuetze Andrade
Just over six months ago, that fruitful wish seemed grounded in
students’ union works for you and your say does matter.
So let’s head into the new academic year ready to participate, advocate and fight for ourselves.
Online
Aside from internal happenings, Marina Gerges, the president of the TMSU, also broke bylaws by sharing confidential student information—including full names, email addresses and home addresses—
Madeline “Cutest Desk” Liao
Edward “Bad Influence” Djan Thea “Rain H8er” Gribilas Prapti “Returned To Ontario” Bamaniya
Mariyah “PIVOOOT!” Salhia
Kim “Birthday King” Namjoon
By Abeer Khan
Laura “D2L Expert” Hall
Vice-president operations Salar Syed resigned from his position on Aug. 26, in a letter sent to The Eyeopener. A month prior, vicepresident education Umar Abdullah also resigned from his role for another opportunity in his field.
Design Director
students!x-rayscleaningdentalFREERUsmilingdental.comexam,&forFreeelectrictoothbrush on your first visit, when you book Teeth Cleaning and a Dental Exam. We are located at: 10 Dundas St E B 102, Toronto, ON M5B 2G9 (647) 343-1171 info@rusmilingdental.com scan moreforinfo & to book online!appointmentyour
with student groups across campus. As reported by The Eyeopener’s news team later in this issue, Gerges shared confidential information discussed on-camera without the permission of the Board of Directors (BoD).
Liane “Kneeling Pillow” McLarty
Contributors
ceiving legislative approval.
change the name on their diploma, the cost will be $70.
“After a long day of classes, all you want to do is sit down”
JES MASON/THE EYEOPENER
The legislation for OCAD was in troduced on April 27, 2010, to add “University” to the official name.
NEWS 3
Syed said the train gets so busy that it’s often difficult to find a seat, leaving passengers to stand for the full duration of the ride.
Students also expressed concerns that the removal of mask mandates on public transportation may render
er the school was going to change its name,” said AccordingDenby.tothe university, there was no vote on the new name be cause it is not a “popularity contest,” but rather part of a deliberate and delicate process. One of the most re cent universities to have their name changed through legislation was Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) University.
“I didn’t have control over wheth
“It would be extremely disrespect ful of the legislative assembly and the provincial government if they stalled the TMU name change,” said Wong-Tam.Theyadded that Toronto’s city council will also be embarking on a journey of name changes, with Dundas Street taking priority.
“The majority of people aren’t wearings masks...there’s only so much I can do”
The university did not specify on the page if an exception would be made for the graduating class of 2023.
It has been over four months since Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) announced its name change, but the process is not yet complete.
Wong-Tam said the name change was robust and thus the university should not have any problems in re
“In five, 10 years time, it will be known as Toronto Metropolitan University, not Ryerson University anymore,” she said. “If it just ends up being ‘Ryerson University’ on the degree and that’s what I tell employ ers, I have a worry that they will not know the university.”
Kisin said, if possible, she would like to have both university names on her diploma, “because then that di ploma would reflect both names that I experienced throughout my journey.”
According to Kristyn WongTam, MPP for Toronto Centre—the riding the school resides in—the university has not reached out to Wong-Tam specifically about this.
Currently, Metrolinx only has plans to increase GO Bus frequency along with line-specific adjustments. When they were asked about plans to increase services on GO Transit lines, Metrolinx directed
TMU commuters say they feel uneasy returning to campus
wearing masks. And as someone who hasn’t gotten COVID[-19], I want to make sure that my chances are not as high, but there’s only so [much] I can do,” she said.
Scott Denby, a history student hoping to graduate this December, said he has a fear it would over complicate later his education or
Rick Leary said in a statement that the TTC anticipates a rider surge in September as students return to school and more people return to in-office work.
“Graduated students or alumni having to pay this fee seems a little absurd, considering how large of a budget the university already has on the whole rebranding,” said Kisin.
For this change to be complete, the Ryerson University Act would have to be amended—something only the provincial government can do.
By Gabriela Silva Ponte
Students who choose a Ryerson University parchment will have to pay if they opt to have it reprinted as Toronto Metropolitan University.
“The [Toronto Transit Com mission] TTC is probably one of the most unreliable transportation methods. There are so many delays and so many subway stops not get tingTTCservice.”CEO
According to the statement, the
noticed an increase in riders on his 45-minute GO train ride from Brampton, Ont.
Final-year students express concern over the university name on their degree
The university states in its Fre quently Asked Questions page online that it registered the name immediate ly, allowing the university to operate under it and are awaiting government approval for the legislative amend ment in the Ryerson University Act.
announced it will be increasing the frequency of its subway, bus and streetcar services, including restor ing three-minute train service on Lines 1 and 2.
“In the winter semester, there were a lot of empty seats and I used to study on the GO train, but I can’t do that now if I’m standing,” he said.
If legislation is not passed by the time the class of 2023 graduates, their diplomas will still say “Ryer sonFourth-yearUniversity.”politics and gover nance student Kristina Kisin, said that if this is the case, she will feel like she got a degree from a univer sity that no longer exists.
Rita said she is excited by this an nouncement as she is looking for ward to less busy trains.
Commuter students at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) are dealing with the impacts of transit reduction and construction as they return to fully in-person learning for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With in-person classes resum ing and people going back to work, commuters are noticing an uptake in delays and busyness on public transportation, causing them to re adjust their schedules in anticipa
Other TMU students have felt the same way and have come to the sameRitaconclusion.saidthat for her, driving is off the “Eventable.ifI get a parking pass, I don’t have eyes on my car all the time and then I have to pay for in surance and gas. It’s just so much more than just the simple Presto card tap that I have to do.”
TMU announced on their Gradu ation Award Document Reissues page that if students who have previously graduated would like to
He said he’s considered driving to school before but it’s not a great option because of increased driving expenses such as gas, parking and idling in traffic.
“You don’t want to have to stand
“The students did not have a voice in this”
Denby agrees. “Although the re branding was positive, the students did not have a voice in this,” he said.
“I’m pretty sure it would take you longer to drive downtown versus taking the GO train at this point. It’s just not worth it,” he said.
In an emailed statement to The Eyeopener, TMU said at this time, there are no government updates on when this might happen.
PEYTON KEELER-COX/THE EYEOPENER
class late and experiencing transit delays makes her worried for the full return to in-person learning.
By Vanessa Tiberio
Erica Wu, a fourth-year RTA new media student, said she felt es pecially nervous about taking public transportation because of this in
In a statement, the university said that if the name change does not happen before convocation, stu dents can either choose to take a Ry erson University parchment or wait to receive a TMU parchment once the act has been amended.
GO Transit’s seasonal bus services for post-secondary students include special routes to schools outside of the Greater Toronto Area, meaning that TMU students don’t get to enjoy
“[The] majority of people aren’t
job“Asapplications.farasIknow, the school is currently called Toronto Metropoli tan University,” he said. “That’s the website I log into, the signage I see on the street. I would like to get my diploma with the same logo as what I graduated from.”
The Eye reached out to the Minister of Colleges and Universities, Jill Dun lop, but did not receive a response.
Rita echoes these concerns stating, “A lot of people didn’t wear a mask, and that made me really scared espe cially living at home with people who areTanusonimmunocompromised.”Rajakumar,a secondyear business management student, has a commute that takes him about an hour to get to campus.
“For GO Bus customers, Metro linx is increasing bus frequency and adding seasonal service for post-secondary students, among other schedule changes,” their blog
Though the university has changed some signage across cam pus and is selling TMU merchandise in its campus store, the name is not yet legally in effect.
formation that she did not consent to being distributed along with an apol ogy for not being forthcoming with information surrounding the leak.
She said she wants an acknowledge ment of the mistake and an apology.
cut address created to send mass communications to campus stu dentsGergesgroups.said she “deeply regrets this error” and that she “immedi ately asked recipients to delete the email,” although she did not men tion contacting students affected by the leak when asked for comment.
In one case a Nursing Course Union member was requesting a reimbursement of $150 that was first requested in December. At the time of the follow-up email sent by the course union, it was May.
NEWS
Another student who was con tacted by The Eye and who asked to remain anonymous so as to not dis close her financial status, said in an
Gerges sent a mass email to stu dent groups prior to the July 26 Board of Directors (BoD) meeting with several documents detailing the confidential information of students approved for the transit and the emergency grants meant to be heard during an in-camera session—a meeting only BoD mem bers are privy to.
Djan and Thea Gribilas
However, Deng also believes that this is a TMU problem and not just a TMSU problem. She said she thinks the school should step in to ensure the safety of students and their information. She added that she is concerned about the
“It was embarrassing to not see any of my classmates’ names on the list of contacts—it’s hard enough being poor, now I know I’m the poorest in my cohort,” she added.
The Eyeopener contacted the stu dents involved in the leak. Among those who responded to The Eye , none were aware of the leak.
“I found out about it through The Eyeopener ,” said Kaitlyn Alexander, a TMU biomedical sciences gradu ate. “To say it was upsetting is a bit of an Gergesunderstatement.”told
By4Edward
To Alexander, the issue is the student’s union not taking owner ship of their mistake and contact ing students involved.
email, “it really sucks that our stu dent union essentially announced that we’re all struggling financially to one another.”
“I would appreciate an apology more than anything,” she said. “I think that one of the most im portant parts of leadership is be ing aware of your mistakes; this is something that, unfortunately, none of our [student’s union] pres idents have had.”
“The university is aware of this incident…The University will con tinue to monitor the situation, and work alongside TMSU to address issues where appropriate. The To ronto Metropolitan Student Union (TMSU) is a separate and inde pendent organization. It is the role of the TMSU to address matters through its own policies and proce dures.” Adding that, “The TMSU’s most important obligation is to its membership. In instances where concerns around governance arise, we expect that the TMSU is able to address this with its membership, and we have communicated this expectation to them.”
“I know a lot of people have been hacked regardless of their informa tion being sent out. It just terrifies me a little to have their [student’s] information out there and they can’t change anything,” said Deng.
Esther Deng, a masters student studying professional communica tions, believes the students’ union should be doing more beyond an apology for those who had more than their email address shared.
possibility of that information be ing used maliciously.
In another case Soccer World TMU requested reimbursement that had been first filed three months prior.
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“It’s just sad, because at the very least, if something was done wrong, you want to have owner ship of that,” she said.
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) students are hoping for an apology after Toronto Metropoli tan Students’ Union (TMSU) presi dent Marina Gerges sent confiden tial student information to TMU student group executives.
The Eye in an email that she meant to send the docu ments to the students group direc tor’s email rather than the short
“If [the leak] was just a name and email, maybe an apology would be nice. But if it’s an address, another type of compensation [would be warranted],” said Deng. Adding that in some cases, financial com pensation may be necessary.
A separate set of emails detailed where a $1,080,000 cheque would be safekept, after Maharaj stated that she did not have the deposit book. Deposit books are typically used to ensure that no deposits are left unaccounted for.
VANESSA KAUK/THE EYEOPENER
The documents also featured several emails detailing commu nications between former TMSU financial controller, Harj Grewal, and members of the TMSU about missing financial information, in cluding missing pay stubs and re imbursements for student groups not being filed.
Documents included full names of students, email addresses, full home addresses and in two cases, filled out cheques that were ad dressed to students.
Gerges said the documents sent to student groups remain confidential.
“If they realize that student in formation [was shared without consent] they should have been the first people to contact these students,” she said.
“If something happened to you, then they should help you compen sate and make sure that your life doesn’t change because of this issue. I think it should be a case by case.”
“To say it was upsetting is a bit of an understatement”
Alexander said she deserves an apology for the TMSU leaking in
“It’s hard enough being poor, now I know I’m the poorest in my cohort”
According to TMSU bylaw 8.13, BoD members are not allowed to share information discussed incamera without the permission of the board. Bylaw 8.15 also specifies that if voted by a two-thirds major ity of the board to be in violation of bylaw 8.13 that, “the [offending party] shall face consequences to be decided upon by resolution of theInBoard.”2020, former BoD member David Jardine was impeached af ter it was alleged that they shared confidential information discussed in-camera. Gerges said her actions do not compare to Jardine’s, adding that, “the inadvertent sending of email correspondence to an incor rect email address, then immedi ately alerting recipients and asking them to delete it, is not the same.”
PEYTON KEELER-COX / THE EYEOPENER
Nayani’s parents came to Canada as refugees in the late ‘80s as a part of the persecuted Tamil commu nity originally from Sri Lanka. The Tamil-speaking community in the
As a woman of colour in the in dustry, Nayani’s own anxieties also proved to be a challenge. These anxi
Nayani, who graduated from To ronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) journalism program in 2010, began writing This Place with co-writ ers Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs and Golshan Abdmoulaie in 2017. When she found out that the film would be premiering at TIFF, she remembers just “bawling and blubbering.”
low-waisted jeans she thrifted, paired with a white t-shirt and matching white sneakers. She dressed up the outfit with layered gold jewellery and a blue two-tone tote bag to carry her schoolWhensupplies.asked about the bag’s functionality, Mikic laughs and shakes her head. “Yeah, no, it’s been killing me. So I definitely will be switching to a backpack,” she said.
The project, Shadeism , document ed the experiences Black, Indig enous and women of colour have with beauty standards, specifically around skin Throughouttone.Nayani’s career, she has worked on documentary projects and music videos, as well as working as an associate producer at CBC. De spite the hard-news focus during her education at TMU, she always wanted to create long-form works.
island country of Sri Lanka has faced decades of persecution after Sri Lan ka achieved independence in 1948.
eties stemmed from experiences sur rounding discrimination growing up.
Second-year English student Mack enzie Walsh said she has also been a fan of the influx of denim this fall. She recalls seeing so many baggy jeans she was inspired to go to her local Value Village and find her own.
Dress to impress: TMU students are expressing themselves through campus fashion
Spotted on campus was another tote bag carrier, Kiera Gray, a sec ond-year creative industries student.
For Stadler, fashion is a way to ex press themselves and push the social constructs of gender.
“There [was] about seven months of receiving rejections,” she said. “I think that is really important to say because I don’t want people to feel alone when they’re getting rejections.”
He hopes to acquire more denim this fall, inspired by campus streetwear. “One thing that I’m really liking right now is jean jackets. I’ve seen them all over downtown and on campus.”
Gray cited Pinterest as her main source of fashion inspiration.
“Mainly I use Pinterest when I’m trying to pick out an outfit in the morning and I’ve lost inspiration with the clothes that I have in my closet,” she said. “I’ll go through [Pin terest] and get some inspiration from other people. ”
Ferracuti’s outfit consisted of entirely second-hand pieces, from their white teddy bear graphic tee to
“TikTok definitely inspires me to make my own clothes because I see so many people being creative on there,” she explained.
From a young age, director, pro ducer and writer V.T. Nayani was always drawn towards creative subjects. Performing in theatre and practicing dance were her ways of indulging in her creative side. These interests would soon grow into a full career in filmmaking that led her to this year’s Toronto Interna tional Film Festival (TIFF) to pre miere her film This Place
The story follows the two char acters who meet at a laundromat in Toronto, kickstarting their love sto ry. Soon however, they realize their unresolved strained relationships with their parents may get in the way of their own romantic relation ship. The film follows their journey together and apart as they navigate their own personal challenges.
“People didn’t trust me to tell my own story,” she said. “It’s not just based on race, it’s gender, sexuality, you know, how you appear, your physicalDeterminedbody.” to create her own narrative, she learned to trust her gut and take up space. “I’m gonna do what I’m gonna do and no one’s gonna stop me,” she said. “I have courage and confidence to continue to pursue those things, regardless of if people get it or not.”
Stadler described using fashion as a way to express how they feel about their identity. “When I step out into the world, I can really just think about what I’m feeling that day, in terms of whether I’m wanting to dress more feminine or more masculine.”
Being a storyteller at heart, she contemplated this unique collision of identities between Indigenous communities and racialized immi grants and wondered how she could bring this conversation to life. And thus, This Place was born.
By Chloe Bard
The return to campus has many students looking forward to using their style to showcase their identities.
Being part of a displaced com munity, they learned to preserve their culture by means of oral sto ries. She said there was always a fear that their history would be erased if it wasn’t documented in some way. For her, this mindset drives her to uphold and reimagine such stories.
ARTS & CULTURE 5 at TIFF
Nayani was very eager to achieve a more nuanced and detailed style of storytelling in order to better por tray the stories of the communities around her.
Nayani said she was thrilled for her film premiere in the very city that has shaped the story.
For the first time in two years, To ronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) campus is fully open and packed with students shuffling around to their classes. Now that they’re finally back again, students have the chance to show off their uniqueSecond-yearstyles. professional com munication student Danika Mikic said she is very excited to be on cam pus for the first time. She is looking forward to finally showing off the clothes she hasn’t had a chance to wear due to the pandemic.
Nayani shares a close bond with her family. She said her relationship with them informs her ideas as a storyteller.
“Thrifting just offers a unique as pect to fashion that you can’t really get when you’re shopping with main stream stores,” said Ferracuti. “It just allows you to build identity from find ing clothes in a personal way.”
“When I got new clothes and stuff, it felt so silly to wear them in front of the Zoom class,” she said.
Being back gives her a chance to bring her outfits out of the closet. “I get to wear all these clothes that I’ve been collecting during COVID.”
Second-year professional commu nication student Sofia Stadler also gets her fashion inspiration from so cial media. She named TikTok as her
“I have a Value Village near my apartment that I’ve shopped at a lot and got a lot of good jeans there.”
She described her colour pal ette to include a lot of earth tones, evident by the linen skirt she was wearing with a funky brown and
“I think [Toronto] is very unique,” she said. “[From] the number of people from different communities that live here, the history of this land and Indigenous communities here whose land it is and people who have arrived here.”
By Rajalaxmi Nayak
She first discovered her interest in being behind the camera when she wrote and directed a short doc umentary in her last year at TMU.
green mesh top.
Nayani was born and raised in To ronto and grew up in Flemingdon Park and Scarborough, neighbour hoods where almost everyone was an immigrant or refugee, she said.
their green cargo pants.
Nathan Ferracuti, a second-year professional communication stu dent, also uses clothes as a way to express himself. He explained that an essential part of his style is thrift ed and vintage pieces.
“People didn’t trust me to tell my own story”
This has made her reflect on her own identity as someone from a displaced community. In her work, Nayani often explores the compli cations of life while also acknowl edging the hopefulness and joy that comes with living.
Seeing other students’ styles on campus has also given Gray inspira tion. “I’ve been noticing a lot of Y2K style,” she said. “Lots of big pants, then they pair it with the small top. I think it looks really cool.”
PHOTO BY TRAVIS PEREIRA
Mikic said she’s been waiting to show off the outfit she was wearing at the time of her interview with The Eyeopener. Her outfit consisted of
Walsh has been looking forward to in-person classes and a chance to wear something other than her pyjamas she favoured during virtual learning. “Now everyone’s got their own style, I want to show off my style too,” she said.
Nayani and her team weren’t prepared for the news after the dis couraging rejections they had over
“I think that we are always com ing into ourselves in new ways and I’m interested in what that looks like,” she said.
“I love seeing people not be scared to wear what they want and seeing so many different styles,” said Mikic. “It’s super refreshing and nice.”
number one source, getting outfit ideas from what others are wearing on the platform. Stadler also credited TikTok as her influence to start mak ing her own clothes.
“I’m gonna do what I’m gonna do and no one’s gonna stop me”
“Now everyone’s got their own style, I want to show off my style too”
the previous months.
“The goal was always narrative,” sheNayanirecalled.said she’s always been in trigued by human experiences of coming-of-age. She believes that people are always coming-of-age across one’s lifespan.
The film is a queer love story about two young women: Malai, who is of Tamil descent and Kawen niióhstha, who is Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) and Iranian.
What made the moment even more special was that Nayani got the news from Kelly Boutsalis, a programmer at TIFF, who happened to be a Mohawk woman herself. “[Boutsalis] genuinely seemed emotional and excited,” Nay ani said. “[She] told us how special it was to hear a mother and daughter speaking Mohawk on screen.”
“But on my lighter, fun study days, I will totally bring the tote bag.”
While her peers got to take trips to their hometowns, Nayani couldn’t have that experience. From an early age, she wrestled with her idea of home. She also realized she didn’t have a relationship with In digenous communities of the land she was currently living on.
“I get to wear all these clothes that I’ve been collecting during COVID”
“What matters to me is changing tiny universes.”
n a spring day in 2021, Amreen Kullar strolled around the Toronto Ontario Temple—also known as the Latter-day Saints Temple—in Brampton, Ont. She spent two hours taking photographs of the stark white building with her trusty pocket-sized Nikon 35mm camera. The temple is close enough to her home that she can spot the towering spire from her bedroom window, topped with a gilded statue of the angel Moroni.
The resulting photographs formed the visuals for her photo essay, Brampton in the Winter—saturated with nostalgia and accompanied by a punchy spoken word piece that denounced derogatory assumptions aimed at the city and its residents. Visible minorities make up 73 per cent of Brampton’s population, according to census data from 2016. Nicknames given to Brampton by people in and around the Greater Toronto Area, like “Browntown’’ and “Bramladesh,” deride the city’s large South Asian population. In her piece, Kullar flips mockery of the city as an ethnic enclave on its head, making Brampton synonymous with bravery. “In Brampton,” she writes in her piece, “we resist.”
CAPTURING A NEW HOMETOWN NARRATIVE
For Kullar, Brampton in the Winter was an assertion of hometown pride at a time when her city was facing waves of racist scrutiny. She describes a “heartwarming” response to her photo essay; her comments were flooded with other locals vocalizing their own frustrations, alongside their love for Brampton. People from Scarborough and other GTA suburbs expressed similar sentiments for their own cities. If even a single person comes away from her work feeling proud of their hometown or deciding to take an extra second before cringing at the mere mention of Brampton’s name, Kullar will be satisfied.
Photography was a favourite travel pastime of Kullar’s, but after the COVID-19 pandemic grounded her in her hometown of Brampton, she decided to point the camera to places in her neighbourhood that were already imprinted in her memory. Other subjects Kullar photographed included the library she used to visit with her father, who immigrated to the city from India in the ‘90s, and the SilverCity theatre that helped shape her love of cinema.
words by rochelle raveendran
n the ‘majority-minority’ cities of Brampton and Scarborough, where racialized people form the majority of the population, artists and filmmakers are denouncing negative preconceptions about their cities through their storytelling. TMU students and alumni are using their poetry, photography and videography to reclaim narratives in the public imagination about their hometowns, countering stereotypes through art informed by their own authentic experiences.
ened her accumulated frustrations. Kullar notes positivity rates were blamed on cultural celebrations like Diwali, rather than the lack of protections for essential factory workers. Brampton also faced disparities in the rollout of vaccines and a longstanding underfunded healthcare system—equity issues also felt in Scarborough, Ont., where 73 per cent of the population are also visible minorities.
Min Sook Lee, a documentary filmmaker and assistant professor at OCAD University, says for too long the arts have been dominated by a homogeneous group of people who held the mantle of storytelling power—particularly
ate toward her hometown; dislike for Brampton was deeply entrenched in her high school experience. She recalls longing to move away for university and days when she thought being called “whitewashed” was a compliment. It was only after Kullar began attending TMU’s media production program that she realised how much of a gift it was to grow up in a community with shared cultural touchpoints. When she’d tell people in Toronto where she was from, responses ranged from assumptions of the city’s inherent inferiority, to uncertainty of how to react, to ‘Of course you’re from Brampton.’
“Even if you don’t live [in Brampton] and you just say that you’re from there, it’s automatically like a roast,” Kullar says. Media coverage of Brampton’s pandemic response height-
how tmu alums are reclaiming their hometown pride in the face of stereotypes
visuals by jes masonphoto by alicia reid
O
Kullar, a filmmaker who graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) in 2021, wasn’t always affection-
I
Kullar has a personal understanding of storytelling’s transformative power. She decided to become a filmmaker after experiencing firsthand how makes viewers more empathetic towards others’ perspectives. Rather than placing blame on specific individuals for their prejudices, Kullar prefers a creative intention that shows people a different way to think.
Another Bramptonspecific project she has on the backburner is a visual essay, layering archival footage of the city with VHS tapes from her childhood recorded by her father and her own photography of Brampton.
Both torsresidentsScarboroughandvisi-canviewReid’s
Art is a universal language, Chavez says. “People who feel called to share have a place to speak uninterrupted, in as loud or as subtle forms as they wish. Their art can be a mirror for anyone that encounters it…and it can be a ripple effect of introspection and positive change.”
In the months following the onset of the pandemic, Reid found herself in a tailspin. Reid, who graduated from the journalism program in 2022, was no longer regularly commuting downtown for school and work, which shifted her artistic inspirations. Much of Reid’s early photography revolved around documenting downtown Toronto. She particularly gravitated towards hotspots like the Rogers Harbourfront, which were often featured on local sites like Toronto and
The events and concerts she typically photographed had also shut down, including the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, which resumed in 2022 following a two-year hiatus. This abrupt absence of her typical subjects led Reid to question whether she could still see herself pursuing a career in photography.
straight white men. The language of reclaiming “contextualizes the act of representation,” she says, while also recognizing that marginalized people have always been storytellers in their own communities.
was a photograph of a collapsed home. Outside of computer algorithms, Reid has witnessed her share of limited, often racist, views about her hometown, including descriptions of it being a “ghetto” and a crime-riddled place.
Instead, Kullar recalls encouragingly replying to the comment: “You go to downtown Brampton and take that photo because I want to see it from your point of view.”
FEATURES
In the 19th century farmhouse Cornell House, one of four heritage buildings that compose the museum, a portrait of Queen Victoria and a photograph of Westminster Abbey were taken down to display six pieces, including Warden Sation Patty.
Rajasingham, who was born and raised in Scarborough, says locals have had an overwhelmingly positive response to the new display since it launched last December. In her role as a tour guide, she says visitors from the borough almost do her job for her when they see Reid’s photograph; there’s an immediate understanding of how the Toronto patty debate ties into Scarborough’s identity.
Centre and blogTONarcity pursuing community buildings Patty 7
arden Station isn’t a needed stop on photographer and filmmaker Alicia Reid’s typical commute. She mainly finds herself there when she wants to pick up a Fahmee Bakery patty sold at the station, a detour on her commute to TMU from her hometown of Scarborough. The debate over which subway station sells the best patty is a heated and passionate one in the city. But for Reid, there’s no question that Warden Station surpasses all others—an opinion that would eventually guide her in her artistic documentation of the borough.
A
Warden Station Patty as part of a new display in the Scarborough Museum, which features rotating pieces by local artists. Historical interpreter Faith Rajasingham worked with her team to develop the exhibit and content.
For out-of-towners who see her work, she hopes they will question their prejudices about Scarborough and consider visiting.
With Brampton in the Winter, she applied a similar authenticity, only photographing places with which she felt a personal connection. Kullar says she’s wary of inadvertently presenting herself as a spokesperson of such a large and varied community. In the comments of her Instagram post, one user asked why Kullar hadn’t included a photograph of downtown Brampton.
With her Canon DSLR and new inspiration in hand, the
As Reid continues developing in her photography and videography journey, she does so with the understanding that she wants people to feel proud about where they come from. Her photography was recently featured in Scarborough Made Resilience, a public art installation outside Cedarbrae Library, that highlights the stories of community leaders. Reid’s creative work brings her joy when she’s able to show people a side to her beloved borough they may have never seen. “There’s a kind of underdog persona that’s wrapped around with Scarborough…but I’m tired of being the underdog,” she says. “I want to be a champion in my own way for my community.”
She says this is part of a transitional process by the Toronto History Museums collective to move away from primarily telling white settler histories. This narrow focus “absolutely didn’t do any justice to the history or community of Scarborough,” Rajasingham says, as it didn’t reflect the diversity of locals.
In community spaces like RISE, Chavez likens herself and her fellow artists to seeds being nurtured by local mentors in art, including Randell Adjei, the founder of RISE and Ontario’s first poet laureate. She aspires to do the same for others, particularly fellow Filipino artists in Scarborough. “I have been thinking about how I am tomorrow’s ancestor with every project I am involved in,” she says.
fter Kullar posted Brampton in the Winter on her Instagram page, the overwhelming social media response included messages from fellow artists. One user wrote that she had encouraged them to create a similar piece and another told her of their own writings about Brampton.
She describes her win as a shocking and affirming experience. Reid had found a new muse, the beautifully dynamic and diverse borough that she’s proud to call her home. In the process, she had also found a renewed sense of purpose. She simultaneously shot video footage on her phone for what would become STARBOROUGH, a personal video project and short ode to her home that includes clips of the Scarborough Town Centre and Scarborough General Hospital.
joke.”“The best way to change someone’s mind is to make them feel something about what you’re creating,” sheKullarsays. hopes to continue to platform marginalized communities and show diverse depictions of Brown people in her work.
singer and poet, Shadel Chavez, says art has the power to rebuild and strengthen. Chavez has been active in the local arts scene for over ten years and compares art to medicine, especially within RISE Edutainment, a Scarborough-based arts organization that seeks to provide an inclusive space for young and emerging artists.
Brampton’s wealth of diversity informs the unique perspective of local arts, says Nuvi Sidhu, the chair of the advisory committee for the Arts, Culture & Creative Industry Development Agency, which advocates and provides programming for Brampton artists. She says funding for community artists is vital, as art is what everyone uses to survive. Sidhu is excited to hear local artists talk about the need to reclaim Brampton with a new narrative that reflects the city’s beauty, in the face of out-of-towners and social media posts that treat Brampton like “the butt of a
Her work emerges from a deeply personal vulnerability. After four Sikh factory workers were killed in a shooting in a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis in April 2021, she was sobbing in her bedroom as she started writing a new piece. The result was Ode to Factory Workers, an angry spoken word reflection on Kullar’s grief and her evolving perception of her parents’ own factory jobs.
W
As she pondered her creative future, Reid came across Scarborough’s New View, a photography contest by the City of Toronto and Scarborough Arts, in August 2020. According to the contest website, it intended to create a “new, more accurate narrative” about the borough and its residents. The contest was a response to the discovery that the first result on Google Images when searching up Scarborough
This was an intentional exclusion, as she was not very familiar with the area.
contest propelled Reid throughout her neighbourhood over the course of September 2021, from the Scarborough Bluffs to Thomson Memorial Park. When it came to the contest category “Things,” Reid intrinsically knew the one object that could represent both the food culture that embodies Scarborough and the importance of a transit system that’s as much used by locals as it is maligned by them. She stood on a Warden Station platform, held up a patty with a fresh white manicure and took the shot. The result was Warden Station Patty, which made Reid one of three Grand Prize winners in a contest that received over 3,700 submissions.
“The way your emotions and vulnerability come out in pieces of work makes people rethink their stances [and] what they say, and allows them to have more empathy,” she says.
Of the largest visible minority groups in the borough, 25 per cent of residents identify as South Asian, nine per cent as Black and 12 per cent as Filipino.
“This is what I’m meant to be doing,” Reid says. “I’m meant to be highlighting and uplifting my community.”
Lee describes art as essential to social change; dismissing it as frivolous or simply decoration is misguided and troubling. “Cultural work is where social transformative change happens first, because you have to imagine the world you want to live in, in order to move towards building it,” she says. The arts provide opportunities for dialogue and discussion amongst people with diverse beliefs, according to an article in Psych journal. Consequently, it can be a means of raising public consciousness within communities, encouraging them to press for socialScarborough-basedchange.
“Having these art pieces on the wall is reclaiming these spaces, asserting our histories and our presence and saying that we belong here, too,” Rajasingham says.
“Overallnurses.Iwould agree that a par tial privatization for people who do need medical attention would be beneficial and alleviate that stress on nurses,” said Abigail Chang, a fourth-year nursing student.
VANESSA KAUK/THE EYEOPENER
Other students say some degree of privatization in healthcare could lessen part of the burden on public health
The school has been develop ing and implementing an official policy that [allows] for the use of a chosen/preferred name for inter nal purposes for some time.”
TMU nursing students wary of Ontario’s privatization announcement
Chang also explained that there is a significant job shortage in healthcare right now.
“With this announcement of privatization…giving them ex tra payment to join private sec tors doesn’t mean necessarily [that we’ll] solve the problem of the waiting list,” Al-Hamad said. “You’re giving the chance for more
In August, the Ford govern ment announced privatization is “on the table” if it might help ease the strain on Ontario’s hospitals andTheclinics.provincial government is also introducing legislation to increase publicly-covered surger ies at private clinics to decrease backlog. The new system will also send senior patients waiting for spots in long-term care homes into an “alternative facility.” Fur ther privatization has not yet been
stress, taking more of the compe tent healthcare workers towards a private sector, a private organiza tion and you leave the public health sector with more shortage,” she said. “Extra struggles will be added to the public health system.”
Students can make the request for a name change via RAMSS in the ‘Profile’ section under Personal details on the site.
comes after months of hospitals being over capacity and the cancellation of thousands of procedures to make room for COVID-19 patients, ac cording to the Toronto Star.
tion,” said Professor Ajeer AlHamad. Al-Hamad worked as a nurse in a long-term care facility during the pandemic.
All official documents will still require students’ legal names.
JES MASON/THE EYEOPENER
After nearly 10 years of rallying led by the Trans Collective, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) is now allowing students to decide how their first name appears in class rosters and online.
the statement read.
“You would think, given the nursing shortage, they would be hiring left right and centre, but… there are actually not a lot of fulltime positions available for nurs es,” Chang Professorssaid.inthe school of nurs ing have their own opinions on how this will impact the health care sector.
Students can now opt for a preferred name on D2L and class roster
The change will be seen imme diately in the Student Adminis tration System, but will take some time to show up across other uni versity systems, according to the official policy released by TMU.
“I am a Canadian citizen, it’s my home and I give credit to the public healthcare system but I’m not sure if I find myself [able] to sup port that kind of privatiza
“We actually have a large popu lation of young nurses and nursing students that are excited to start nursing,” she said. “I’ve been notic ing that a lot of my colleagues, es pecially the ones that just graduat ed, are having a hard time finding full-time positions in a hospital.”
“I think my outlook has defi nitely changed from the first year to now,” said Chang.
COMMUNITIES8
By Lauren Battagello
Priorsaid.”to the fall 2022 semester, Coombs said the school only reco gonized name changes through legal changes. “The reason that I pushed for my legal name change is because the school didn’t have an option for me otherwise,” he said.
“This has always been a need within our community”
Thisdetailed.legislation
departments because patient de mand surpassed hospital staff, ac cording to the CBC.
In the past, the university said it would be challenging to imple ment such a change, given that the software that runs RAMSS and D2L Brightspace didn’t allow for the user to input their name change, according to Coombs.
“It does make me scared of en tering the public field. I feel like nurses are not being supported [in] the way they should [be],” said Vrunda Panchal, a secondyear nursing student. “There is a need to hire more nurses and give them more staff and resources and the quality of the workplace needs to be taken care of.”
Nursing students at Toronto Met ropolitan University (TMU) are waiting to see whether new pro vincial legislation will include more privatization.
The Trans Collective has been campaigning the university to allow students to choose how their name appears online since 2013
By Laura Hall
In a recent news release, the university announced that stu dents can now choose how their first name will appear online. “The chosen name will appear for inter nal purposes such as the class ros ter, grade roster, D2L and Google Meet and Zoom display names,”
The reaction so far has been positive for the Trans Collective. “Already, folks have come to us and said thank you for passing this in formation along because we need it,” said Coombs.
The plans, which Ontario Nurs es’ Association president Catherine Hoy called a “shuffling of deck chairs
“This has always been a need within our community,” said Ollie Coombs, coordinator of the Trans Collective. The Trans Collective is one of the six equity service centres of the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union.
Professors and students at the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing have mixed feelings as to whether or not more privatization
He said the group has been push ing the school since 2013 to allow students to use their preferred name. The change is also signifi cant for students who use a nick name, an anglicized name, a cul tural name or any other name that’s different from the name they were given at birth, Coombs added.
Staffing shortages are affecting hospitals all over the province, with two hospitals near Ottawa temporarily closing emergency
Being able to alter the way their names appears is also a welcome change for students, who say it pro motes inclusion.
“I think having easily accessible name change options fosters an en vironment of inclusivity and sends a message that TMU is committed to caring for queer students,” said Alison Air, a second-year philoso phy student. “I’m really happy I get to use my preferred name on D2L, although I wish [I had] the oppor tunity to use my chosen last name, too,” she added.
In an email to The Eyeopener, the university said, “Student Records is committed to creating an envi ronment where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity, and supporting all students to reach
For students nearing the end of their degrees, the already intense field now seems much more challenging.
“There are a lot of my col leagues and friends that are now questioning our careers because of how stressful it is and we’re not even nurses yet.”
She explained that while the TMU nursing school’s curriculum is strong, there is more to the pro fession than physical demand and she believes privatization has the potential to increase the amount of stress on nurses.
“I feel like nurses are not being supported [in] the way they should [be]”
on the Titanic,” further complicates what the industry will look like for graduating nursing students.
their academic potential.”
Although TMU previously had a process to help students wanting to use a chosen name at the university, it “recognized that this didn’t neces sarily meet the needs of all students and we could do better, the state ment
A CTV News article from Feb ruary of this year reported that a couple living in a newer Toronto building were surprised when they found out their rent was increasing by 25 per cent.
“Typically, students don’t meet this particular threshold because of the fact that students aren’t making a whole lot of money,” he said.
“We have to think about how those particular decisions students are being forced to make are then impacting their scholastic perfor mances within school,” he said.
“Businesses need that extra sup port right now to recover from the labour shortages and slow delivery of the supply chain,” said fourthyear business technology manage ment student Jacob Tran. “I think it’s great that the school is teaming up with tech companies to help re boot the Hosseineconomy.”Rahnama, Flybits found er and CEO, said in SCALE AI’s press release that artificial intel ligence (AI) will help to “forge ef fective and sustainable business relationships in the availability, mobility and effective use of priva cy-preserved data.”
Other TMU-affiliated AI proj ects include Supply AI, an AI-fo cused stream under the university’s business incubator DMZ, as well as an independent student-made app called Glucose Vision Inc, which uses AI to identify glucose control and insulin requirements for dia betic individuals.
She added that the prices were incredibly high and she is current ly paying about $1,800 a month for a studio apartment in the heart of the city. Lorette lives with her boyfriend and has support from her parents to help pay the high rent
“I started looking for a place at the
When it comes to finding solu tions for students, Lewis suggested for schools to try partnering with with non-profit organizations to construct housing, rather than private developers.
“I really believe in the future of artificial intelligence, and the fact that the school is investing into it means a lot to me,” said Alizarin Hirani, a member of the Ted Rog ers Students’ Society and thirdyear business technology manage ment student.
PEYTON KEELER-COX/THE EYEOPENER
A Rental.ca report revealed that average monthly rent prices have increased 24 per cent since July 2021 for all property types, from $2,168 to “What$2,691. you’re seeing happening at the moment is this wave of folks that are now moving back into the city that we see in the return to the office,” said Nemoy Lewis, an assis tant professor at the TMU School of Urban and Regional Planning. “Students are having to compete with the interests of those folks, but they’re also competing with interna tional students who are also coming back to in person classes…and as a result, students are facing stiff com petition in order to secure housing.”
He added that their motivation is profit-based, and focused on maxi mizing their return on investment into particular properties. “And one way in doing so is to create essen tially a product, so a rental unit, that can command the highest amount of rent possible.”
The latest increase in rent prices has brought the cost of living in To ronto to a two-year high.
“I really wanted to believe that I was getting a home”
He added that the government could enforce certain policy changes that would benefit students more.
TMU partners with businesseforecosystemtocorporationsmajorbuildadataCanadian
She said she would go on Face book groups to find housing, but there were so many options and she was overwhelmed. Because Yildir im was still living in Turkey while house hunting, she wasn’t able to verify the places she was looking at. She ended up falling for a scam and paying a fee to view an apartment that was never truly for rent, cost ing her money.
After almost four months of searching, Yildirim ended up hav ing to look outside the city, where prices were a little more affordable, finally securing a place about 30 minutes from TMU.
s
Lorette said she saw several apartments at higher prices than she’s paying right now that barely includedRhiannonamenities.Corrigan, a first-year student also studying performance dance, had similar struggles while moving to the city.
migrate to the city post-pandemic, making for a hot housing market that Toronto Metropolitan Univer sity (TMU) students are struggling to compete with.
“It was really hard to find apart ments that actually took students as well,” she said. “They took one look at me and they’re like ‘No we don’t trust you with rent.’”
myself for it.”
they’ve promised to their investors.
While it worked out for Yildirim and her roommates, high prices aren’t the only struggles students are facing when it comes to house hunt ing. Students are also having trouble with“It’slandlords.aresult-oriented business, especially for the institutional land lord. They have a responsibility to their investors and to their share holders,” Lewis said.
Alexis Lorette, a first year perfor mance dance student who moved from Montreal ahead of the semes ter, had trouble finding a landlord who would rent to her.
Before she even got back to To ronto, Yildirim was scammed by a seller while looking for apartments on Facebook Marketplace.
Lewis said policies like this don’t guarantee a level of affordability for students year over year and chang ing them could enhance the level of affordability for students and the broaderAbovepublic.all,Lewis said that what Ca nadians and especially students, need is affordable housing, “where students are not having to make difficult deci sions of ‘do I attend my classes or do I work that extra five, six hours shift in order to pay my rent?’”
“Wefees.were lucky in that regard, but for a student to pay that on their own, it’s absolutely ridiculous, not feasible,” she said.
By Olga Bergmans
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), in partnership with artifi cial intelligence-focused data com pany SCALE AI, is funding a digital data collection program aimed at improving the supply chain flow of Canadian businesses.
According to Zumper’s July 2022 Canadian Rent Report, the median rent for a one-bedroom reached $2,100 this summer, the highest it’s been since July 2020. These prices have made Toronto the secondmost expensive city in Canada, just behindDefneVancouver.Yildirim, an international student in her fourth-year in the economics program, said she had a tough time looking for a place to live after being in Turkey for the past two years.
“I really wanted to believe that I was getting a home.”
Corrigan is currently living on her own, paying $2,150 for a one bedroom apartment. Luckily, all her utilities are included in that price, but she said it’s “rare” to even findCorriganthat. is also receiving some support from her parents with tu ition and “Obviouslyrent. I’m coming from a very privileged standpoint and I
The program, Canard Bleu, will target future supply chain issues, provide cost and saving insights and monitor the overall success of na tionalAlongsidebusinesses.TMU, Canard Bleu is backed by three other major cor porations: TD Bank, Flybits and CEVA Freight Canada Corp. To gether, they’ve invested a total of $9.2 million dollars into the project.
Since the pandemic, Canadian businesses have endured supply chain disturbances and labour short ages, which have posed a threat to the country’sCanardeconomy.Bleuwill work to improve the interdependent relationship be tween suppliers, clients and vendors by organizing and tracking data, so businesses can operate with more ef ficiency and less disruption.
For example, the Ontario’s Resi dential Tenancies Act reads that new buildings, additions to existing buildings and most new basement apartments that were occupied for the first time for residential purposes after Nov. 15, 2018, are exempt from rent control.
Lewis noted that students com ing from families with lesser in come are the ones struggling the most in the midst of the unfeasible Toronto prices.
“We do still know in the back of our minds that there’s almost a stig ma around women’s hockey and our goal is to hopefully prove to every body that shows up and does come and watch that we are competitive athletes and we can play a good game of hockey that they hopefully will have fun watching.”
TMU Bold women’s hockey team hyped up for HOCO
Coming off a hamstring injury, midfielder Faisal Ghaffur is looking forward to seeing the team come to gether to have a great season follow ing their annual pre-season train ing in Ziontario—about two hours northwest of campus.
One of the biggest parties at Toron to Metropolitan University (TMU) this semester won’t take place in a residence space, campus pub or club but rather in a hockey arena.
JAHNICK LAMBERT/THE EYEOPENER
on the team that’s gotten a boost in practice knowing the big game was right around the corner. She also didn’t shy away from the fact that she wished she’d be able to be part of the pre-game festivities.
“I've always just been right there but haven't been able to win it all,” he said. “The absolute most impor tant thing is team success. Being my last collegiate year, I really want to win, I'm looking forward to doing
The Toronto Metropolitan Univer sity (TMU) Bold men’s soccer team hits the pitch this week with a new squad. And they’re ready to put up a fight in the Ontario University Ath letics (OUA) conference.
“I’m always of the opinion that top programs don’t rebuild, they reload”
By Gavin Axelrod
The Bold have built strong rela tionships off the field between ath letes and coaches. It’s something they’ll be leaning on this season to put them over the edge.
If playing the defending champs wasn’t enough of a reason to get out to the MAC, it’s also TMU’s fall Homecoming (HOCO) game, which is expected to draw a large crowd.
the OUA semi-finals. TMU’s final match last year was a heartbreaker, as York scored the game-winner minutes before it would have came down to penalty kicks.
“Maybe we could have a smaller turnout because it's a commuter school but I'm pretty much expect ing it to be a pretty big turnout, just because this is the first homecoming game in a while,” said Molokwu.
“Abdallah was not only our cap tain, most experienced player and a great leader but he's also now the university and our program’s alltime goal scorer,” said head coach
Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU) vice-president stu dent life, Ozioma Molokwu, said
Ridgebacks. Their last victory over them came all the way back in 2018.
“We’re much more than just a soccer team, it’s a really tight-knit group”
whatever it takes.”
MARIO RUSSO/THE EYEOPENER
Initially she was excited to go out and see the people at the tailgate. However, she realized the team wouldn’t be able to go, because they’d need to be on the ice by 6 p.m.
Bold defender Saije Catcheway is one of many players
TMU’s women’s hockey team is looking for a repeat performance as the spotlight shifts to their squad.
“Maybe we could have a smaller turnout because it’s a commuter school”
“We don't want to lose to Kasy, that's all it is,” said second-year for ward Zakaria Abdi. “We don't want to hear it from him after the game if we lose to him.”
She said because TMU is a com muter school, students want to have a shared atmosphere, whether that’s through partying, friend ships or watching sports. Giardetti added that getting immersed in the school’s sports scene is a great way to do that, especially starting with Thursday’s contest against last year’s champion,“HopefullyConcordia.thepeople that do come and watch this time are going to be like ‘Oh, damn, this is pretty fun,’’’ she said. “Hopefully they like the atmosphere and they will come back for more. I think that's the ul timate goal.”
The homecoming festivities will begin at Lake Devo with a pre-game tailgate party starting at 4:15 p.m.
“We definitely were surprised that it was us, because we normally don’t get that many fans to begin with,” said Rams veteran Olivia Giardetti. “The fact that they are trying to get more awareness with the students around campus is awesome and ob viously we’re super excited.”
Hosting the tailgate at Lake Devo was a conscious decision. Molokwu said the tailgate in 2019—that took place at the Pitman Hall Quad—was
But beyond the expected crowd size and pre-game party at Lake Devo, TMU’s hockey homecoming is an opportunity for the university to renew its school spirit when it comes to sports. That is something that wasn’t lost on Giardetti in the lead up to the big game.
the tailgate was planned by the stud nets’ union in a joint effort with the school’s athletic department.
The team finished atop the OUA Central Division last year, losing to the York University Lions in
“Students pretty much just want to be on campus as much as possible, so that wasn’t really a big concern.”
more accessible to residence stu dents, but moving things to Lake Devo means anyone on campus can see the festivities and be enticed to go to the Molokwugame.added that students should come out to the tailgate be cause there will be lots of opportu nity to win prizes, play games, listen to great music from a DJ and to en joy an outdoor event before the cold winter weather arrives.
“It was good for obviously train ing, but also team bonding, getting together and really coming together as a unit,” said Ghaffur. “Getting to know the newer guys coming in as well was really important.” He add ed that the training allowed them to make new team members comfort able and teach them the squad’s phi losophy, culture, and goals.
SPORTS10
“I think us being involved in an event like this, really does speak to what we're trying to accomplish this year, which is collaborating more with the university and just rebuilding those relationships,” saidSecond-yearMolokwu.
The then Ryerson Rams men’s hockey team knocked off the Queen’s Gaels 4-1 in front of an electric crowd. Taylor Dupuis, the team’s
starting goalie in the game, told The Eyeopener it blew his expectations away in a story following the event.
Although this year’s fall HOCO game takes place on a Thursday, she said she doesn’t see it being a prob lem despite the fact that many TMU students commute to campus.
Abdallah El-Chanti, the team’s previous captain and the top goal scorer in TMU men’s soccer history, has graduated and will no longer be part of the squad. Midfielder Jacob Carlos, who is currently playing for the Canadian Premier League’s Winnipeg Valour FC will not be re turning to the team either.
By Nashra Syed Filip Prostran. “I'm always of the opinion that top programs don't re build, they reload.”
The Bold will start their season with a match against the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks on Sept. 15. They will see a familiar face on the side lines, with former assistant coach Kasy Kiarash now assistant coach ing the Ridgebacks.
The Bold will be part of the OUA’s East Division this year as the conference shifts back to a two divi sion format. They play two matches in one week, with the second being their home opener against the Trent University Excalibur on Sept. 18.
Life after El-Chanti begins for TMU Bold men’s team
TMU’s last fall HOCO was in September 2019 and received rave reviews. Students decked out in blue and gold school merchandise turned out in large numbers for a pre-game tailgate at the Pitman Hall Quad be fore packing the MAC for the game.
“We're much more than just a soccer team,” said Prostran. “It's a really tightknit group of guys that are kind of on this journey to get the best of them selves collectively and individually.”
The TMU men’s soccer program holds a 10-3-1 record against the
“I think it's important to have, obviously a really deep team,” said Prostran. “I don't just mean the num bers, but I mean personnel that are capable of filling in for one another.”
“Hopefully they will like the atmosphere and that they will come back for more”
The TMU Bold women’s hockey team hosts the Concordia Sting ers—U Sports’ reigning national champions—Thursday night at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC).
smart move for business and might
ford the royalties), the hype of our sports will be an all-day-everyday event. We’ll also never get tired.
Raccoons are known as spunky lil’ creatures that could definitely be your pet if you domesticated them. Incorporating our animal neigh bours reflects the metropolis of To ronto more than any other name potentially could.
11FUN & SATIRE
Most TMU students spend at least 73.98 per cent of their time on subways. This is actually not a real statistic but TMU isn’t actually a subway station, so anything goes. Not many people can put up with constant closures and delays or adapt easily when bus drivers drive past whilst making eye contact. But TMU students are of course built different, which makes us all the more deserving to be named as a station on the 2017 North Ameri can top-rated transit system. We’ll have all the opposing teams taking shuttle buses with a knockout name like this!
To first years who wanted an authentic greeting with a headbutt from an enigmatic ram at frosh and the remainder of the student body who just yearn to no longer be laughed at by competing univer sities: let us comfort you with five beautiful but also terrible alternate mascot options.
Bear with us when we ask you to consider all the benefits of being the TMU Tires. Yes it may seem stupid, but as a theme song we could bor row the lyrics “They see me rollin, they hating” of the Chamillioanire song “Ridin.” Once we get that as our song (we’re sure TMU can af
Toronto Metropolitan Station
We all wish there was a way to pre dict what will be coming our way in the near future. Now, there just might be a way. We came up with a list of possible outcomes students can expect for their first university year or just their first year back on campus at Toronto Metropolitan UniversityUnfortunately(TMU).for you, we also decided to hide those outcomes in this word search.
Rest in peace Eggy lovers, because there is a new name and mascot on the horizon for Toronto Metropoli tan University (TMU). On the plus side, both choices are extremely un popular and utterly confusing for the majority of the student body.
WordAccurateTotallyFun,Hunt
The rules are simple: the first three words you see foreshadow the kind of year you will have. In which order will these prophecies come to fruition? Nobody knows because even The Eye’s fortune-telling abili ties have limits.
Or, if you’re bored, you can also just find as many words as you want.
By Sierra Finkelshtain and Zarmminaa Rehman
its own product placement with our version of Tim Hortons mer chandise, showing our modern Canadian culture and devotion to mediocre coffee! By devotion,
TMU Trash Pandas, also known as Raccoon Residents
Our final choice shows a lack of ef fort and enthusiasm, on the part of us at The Eye. What can we say, we’re just following in the school’s foot steps. Granted, The Bold is a mod erately cool name but does it convey the same emotion as letting everyone know that TMU students will always come out on TOP? And that we can TOP everyone (in more ways than one *wink, wink, nudge*)?
Super
How will YOUR year turn
Byout?Mariana Schuetze Andrade
PEYTON KEELER-COX/THE EYEOPENER
Visuals by Jes Mason
Mascots that “suck” but are better than TMU’s choice
We believe that incorporating a Tim Hortons and TMU partnership would be extremely reflective of our campus culture, a student body that has a dash of caffeine addiction. It’s a
TMU Tops
Is the mascot a font—The Bold— or is it a bird—the falcon? Both? A bold falcon? No one is really sure but our contribution to this new dilem ma is underlining what could have been instead.
12 *CampusOne s an ndependently o wned and opera ted residence affi a ted with the University and the University assumes no responsibi ity in regard to an y a greements entered into by students/residents w th the Owner and the Opera tor The University makes no representa t ons or warranties and assumes no responsibility for the conditions of ser vices provided a t the Academic Residence Learn more at 416.977.8000Live-Parkside.ca|111CarltonSt Learn more at 647.288.0827Live-CampusOne.ca|253CollegeSt Toronto’s Premier Student Living! Welcome Back! We Can’t Wait To See You.
