Ryerson Students’ Union partnering with Ryerson Athletics to host Homecoming

By Libaan Osman 

The Ryerson Rams men’s hockey team will be hosting this year’s homecoming, according to Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) vice-president student life and events, Joshua Wiggins. 

Both the RSU and Ryerson athletics are working together to host the event on Sept. 20 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. 

The RSU will be in charge of hosting a tailgate party at Pitman Hall with vendors and carnival games for students to partake in before the hockey game. Wiggins also confirmed that the RSU will be releasing a budget breakdown of expenses after the event.

The former RSU executive team received criticism last year for coordinating homecoming with the Toronto Argonauts at BMO Field, instead of representing Ryerson. “Why not flip the ice into a court so we can get 3,500+ loud students cheering on our volleyball or basketball teams?” Taylor Dupuis, a then-fourth-year and goalie for the Ram’s men’s ice hockey team told The Eye.

According to Wiggins, in the RSU’s first meeting with the athletics department back in June, it was established that homecoming would be on campus this year, with the goal of having more students in attendance at games.

He also mentioned that the Ryerson’s Liberal Arts Society, Ted Rogers Students’ Society, the alumni community and Ryerson’s Engineering Student Society (RESS) will be involved in the event. 

RESS students struggled to attend last year’s homecoming due to their exam period being scheduled around the same time.

When asked about the potential turn-out for the event, Wiggins said he wasn’t concerned at all.

“They had good attendance for their back-to-school bash game and they’re fourth in attendance in the OUA (Ontario University Athletic) league, so, no, I’m not worried at all,” Wiggins said. 

A collaboration between the RSU and athletics is expected to continue throughout the year. 

“Moving forward, you’ll probably be seeing more partnerships with more games,” Wiggins said. “Whatever Ryerson athletics deems the marquee games, we’ll be going out to.”

The men’s hockey team will be facing the Queen’s Gaels on homecoming day.