TMU students torn on pub’s name and logo change

Ram in the Rye has changed its name to ‘The Met’ after student input

By Gabriela Silva Ponte

Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) campus pub announced at its launch party on Feb. 2 that its name will change from the Ram in the Rye to The Met.

The launch, hosted by the Toronto Metropolitan Students’ Union (TMSU), ran from 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. and invited all TMU students to celebrate the new name with a DJ and featured drinks.

“The Met represents the community at school perfectly,” said TMSU president Marina Gerges. “It’s short, it shows the new era that we have here with the new name.”

The pub’s name change comes 10 months after the university announced its name would be changing from Ryerson University to TMU.

Restaurant manager Crystal Pettman said renaming the pub took so long because of student input and legal matters.

“We wanted to take our time to make sure that we actually heard as many people’s voices as we could,” she said. “You have to make sure you can get the domain names, you have to make sure that you can legally register the name with Ontario.”

“They did a poll and there were answers, but it was a little half baked,” Zivkovic said. “They didn’t really go all the way to get everyone’s opinion or at least a majority that could tell them that this is not exactly what we wish for.” university by its old name or other wrong names.

He thinks The Met was the wrong choice out of all three options.

“I think they could have done a lot of the changes they made with more finesse,” he said.

At the start of the event, balloons spelling out “The Met” were brought into the pub to officially announce the new name.

Keifer de Sousa, a first-year early childhood studies student, said he wanted to be at the event to celebrate the name change.

“I wanted to be a part of that transition, being at the last party at the Ram in The Rye and the first party at the new name,” he said.

The pub initially asked community members to offer suggestions for the new pub name on social media in October.

Pettman said they received between 50 and 100 suggestions.

From the list, the team narrowed it down to three options—Falcon’s Nest, Falcon in The Sky and The Met. Students were invited to give their input on these options via Instagram comments and direct messages, said Pettman.

Lazar Zivkovic, a fourth-year biomedical engineering student, doesn’t think the pub did enough to get student opinions.

“Honestly, I couldn’t name a single peer of mine, a friend of mine, who actually knew that this polling was done at the time or that engaged with it,” he said.

For Zivkovic, the establishment’s previous name gave it a different feel.

“It really felt like a community pub, something that could draw students in. Whereas this just seems very bland and very generic. I’m not too much of a fan of it,” he said.

But some TMU students say they actually like the new name.

“This name was the right choice, since many people refer to the university as ‘Toronto Met” said de Sousa.

“I feel like it’s a short and sweet way of summarizing our school’s name,” he said.

De Sousa added TMU’s mascot is difficult to understand since it is a Falcon but the athletic teams are called the Bold, which complicated the renaming options.

“I feel like if they referred to it with something to do with the Falcon’s name, everyone would not understand it,” he said.

De Sousa said renaming the pub is an important step toward change, with some people still calling the

“A lot of people are still trying to transition but I feel like it’s an important way to transition so we can move forward in this new era of this new school,” he added.

Abby Barrett, a third-year image arts student, likes the name because it reminds her of The Met Gala—an annual celebrity fundraising event.

“Short and sweet, gets to the point and it is actually in the university’s name,” she said.

Barrett said the pub’s name change is important because it doesn’t involve anyone’s specific name within it.

An Instagram post announcing the new name and logo was promptly posted to the pub’s page after the name was announced, and its comments filled with controversy over the logo.

“It’s too simple, too generic and it needs a bit more decoration,” said de Sousa.

Some commenters on The Met pub’s Instagram account also noted the similarity between its logo and that of The Met Dining Room, which is a Ted Rogers School of Management student-run restaurant used to help hospitality and tourism management students develop service experience.

“Our designers must have had the same brain. I have no idea how that happened, complete oversight on our part. So we’re back to the drawing board on that,” Pettman said.

TMU president Mohamed Lachemi congratulated students on the new name.

“The Met is a fitting new name and one that honors our new university name,” he said. “I hope it continues to be a place where the community will go to celebrate with good food and great friends.”

Pettman added the next step is changing the pub’s signage.