By Laura Woodward
The Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) plans to make their presence known — outdoors.
Since winning the election, the new RSU executive have initiated a $25,000 rebranding of the organization.
The rebrand was a priority to differentiate this year’s union from the past ten years’, and to engage more students on campus, according to RSU President Andrea Bartlett.
Their rebrand coincided with Ryerson’s, which recently altered its logo and font. “Some of the wording like, ‘Your time to lead’ [on the Drake-referenced banner], is the direction the university is going into. We were looking in a more student-applicable way to get that message across,” Bartlett said.
“We wanted to do a large culture shift within the RSU, it’s hard to do that when people still identify with an older brand.”
The new RSU logo translated into a massive $5,000 sign. Bartlett said it was inspired by the popularity of the Toronto sign in Nathan Phillips Square.
The sign currently sits outside the Student Centre, but its location is temporary.
“Now that DisOrientation Week is over, one of the things we’re doing this week is clearing things out,” Bartlett said.
This will include finding a new spot for the sign, as well as returning the the teal umbrella chairs from Lake Devo to their original spot — Costco.
Nine chairs purchased from Costco, totalling $2,160, will be returned for a full refund.
“This is the main reason why we went with Costco because they have a three-year return policy, regardless of the state of the item. So even if something spills on the chairs, they will still allow you to return,” Bartlett said.
According to Costco’s return policy, any item can be returned, excluding diamonds and electronics.
The chairs were purchased under the budget for Orientation Week. Lake Devo was originally planned to be a cabana, the chairs fitting the theme, but plans changed after the RSU learned the space would be occupied.
“We modified our plans when the Launch Zone needed space for their dome during the week. We only found out about the dome a few weeks before O-Week so it was too late to cancel the [chair] order by then,” Bartlett said.
But one of the chairs cannot be returned, due to damage. And three of the chairs were purchased by the DMZ — resulting in a $195 loss and $1,965 return.
Gwen Swinarton, a second-year media production student, doesn’t think the chairs should be returned. “I don’t really get how they’re going to return them, I saw a couple of the chairs breaking and falling apart,” Swinarton said.
According to Bartlett, the chairs will be inspected beforehand, but some of the chairs weren’t opened so it’s a “basic return” to put money back in students’ pockets.
With files from Mikaela Fasullo.
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