The SANB General Assembly is the quintessential place for Acadians to speak out and express themselves on the issues that matter to our people.

The Citizens’ Committee, which recognizes SANB as the legitimate spokesperson for our community and advocates for our university’s name change, asks SANB members to consider the following before deciding on this matter:

– Our university is the flagship college for the Acadian people. It is considered the largest purely French-speaking general university with a Francophone minority in Canada. As a network university, it is based in the three main Acadian regions of New Brunswick. Its main characteristics, recently confirmed by our Rector, are: Acadian and Francophone. This means that it is not only open to Acadians and Acadians, but also to French-speaking students from Canada and French-speaking countries. With the recent adoption of the “Cap sur l’avenir” strategic plan, the company reaffirms that it wants to get even closer to its integration community. Isn’t it time to have a clear identity that reflects its specific characteristics?

– On June 19, 2023, the university will celebrate its 60th anniversary. The name was chosen in the context of the 1960s, but times have changed. Calls for a name change have surfaced at regular intervals over the last 50 years.

– in 2024, this demand has reached unprecedented proportions, to the point that our Rector has dubbed it a Citizens’ Movement, represented by an eight-member committee and whose spokespersons are the signatories to this letter. The original appeal was supported by 1,416 signatures from all areas of Acadia and Francophonie.

– We cannot rely solely on the number of people who voted for the name change. Several authority figures, such as elected officials from various parliaments, a member of the Senate, mayors and heads of indigenous communities have personally supported the movement. Communities such as Aboriginal band councils, local councils and professional and artists’ organizations are also supporting the name change.

– The movement to change the university’s name received media coverage across Canada, in both English and French. There were 165 opinion pieces in the province’s French-language print media, with the vast majority in favor of the name change.

In view of all these facts, our movement asks the General Assembly of the SANB to recognize the legitimacy of our proposal and give it moral support, so that its official spokesman, the President of the SANB, can participate in the process initiated by the university and advocate a renaming of our university to use.

Jean-Marie Nadeau
Lise Ouellette