This came out from George Brown yesterday:
"Tomorrow is another milestone for George Brown College. It’s the day we receive official possession of our first student residence, at the corner of Front and Cherry Streets in the new Canary District. This fall we will welcome more than 500 students to their new home, which will also offer a range of student life services; creating a George Brown Community that supports both living and learning.
With this important date now upon us, it seemed like an ideal time to announce the name of our newest location. Those of you who were able to attend my Town Hall meetings earlier this month will know that after much consideration, and an extensive search for the title that would do both the building and our community justice, our first student residence will be called The George.
This name was chosen in three separate submissions by Aiden Farrell, a recent graduate of our Business Administration – Marketing Program, Jessica Atan, a graduate of the Food and Nutrition Management Program and Peter Koutsokeris, Student Life Assistant at George Brown College. Thank you all and congratulations!
As you may recall, we asked students, staff and faculty to send us their name recommendations two years ago. We received more than 300 creative and thoughtful suggestions. After we shortlisted The George, it was singled out in an employee and student survey as the resounding favourite, receiving the highest degree of positive feedback across the full range of criteria by which we were evaluating the options. I’d also like to thank the 1,800 students and staff who participated in this process. Whether you suggested a name or took the time to complete the survey, you played an instrumental part in making The George a strong reflection of our college identity.
In addition to being a student residence, our new building will also contain a conference centre with 4 rooms and standing capacity of more than 300. In September, it will be available for the use of college staff, students and the larger Toronto community. We are delighted to be able to name this space The Lucie and Thornton Blackburn Conference Centre,in recognition of these important leaders in the anti-slavery struggle in Toronto during the 1830’s who were long time community contributors in this part of the city. A formal, public announcement will be made in the fall.
Staff tours of the new residence will be available through the summer, and we hope you’ll come out for our grand opening in early September as we welcome our first cohort of student residents. Watch Update for more information in the weeks ahead.
I look forward to see you all then as we celebrate the historic opening of The George.
Anne Sado
President
George Brown College"