President and Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri was caught off guard during the mayor of Vaughan’s luncheon on February 26.
It was during the luncheon, an annual event for local business leaders, that Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua pitched the idea of Vaughan housing York’s next campus.
During a meeting with Excalibur on February 28, Shoukri says he took the pitch as half-serious and half-humorous. He says the suggestion being sprung on him in a big crowd does not influence his decision.
Shoukri says York has always been interested in expanding beyond the Keele and Glendon campuses.
“We have to look at how a new campus will help York become a better university, what is going to be offered there, and why will it be something that strengthens York’s reputation and meets the needs, most importantly, of the next generation,” says Shoukri.
“The bottom line: we haven’t made any decisions yet, but this does not mean more mayors can’t pitch for an expansion in their cities,” he adds.
According to Bevilacqua, the city of Vaughan was economically ranked very high, and he believes a university campus will bring not only academic opportunities, but also employment opportunities.
“Since 2010, we have created over 20,000 jobs here in the city,” says Bevilacqua.
In addition, Bevilacqua says with its large population growth, language diversity, and close ties to art and cultures, Vaughan offers everything a university campus would be looking for.
“For us as a city, it is very important to our development,” he says. “As you know, we have a subway coming, we are building a hospital, we are building a downtown core.”
Shoukri says having a university campus is a phenomenal driver for economic and social development, so every mayor’s dream is to have post-secondary education institution there. Taking this into account, there are currently no active proposals in the works to expand the university to a new region.
Shoukri says expanding the university will be a massive expenditure. He does not believe York should it take on, but rather, the government and municipalities should support it.
“I am not going to spend a penny from York as it is now to build a new campus because I don’t have it, and I think the government knows that and municipalities know that, and so now, we can express interest and see what proposals the government will put together,” says Shoukri.
He does note, however, that if the university were to expand, it could certainly be into York Region for easy access to the main campus.
With the expansion of the subway being completed in 2016, however, there may not be a need to expand York in the next few years.
Shoukri says the subway will make York a very different campus, and it will be linked to everything in the city.
In terms of guiding the kind of campus Vaughan would like to see housed in the city, Bevilacqua says if it is close to the hospital, a medical school would be ideal.
“The opportunities are very endless; particularly engage[ment] with the development of the downtown core,” says Bevilacqua.
Whether or not there are more pitches thrown at Shoukri in the future, he says his current focus is on fostering the best learning environment for students, continuing the relationships between the university and the greater York communities, and maintaining a positive and healthy environment on campus.
“We would absolutely welcome and we would encourage Doctor Shoukri to look at [the City of Vaughan] in a favorable way,” Bevilacqua says, “As a graduate of York University, I would love the see the campus here in the city.”
It looks like Bevilacqua may have to wait a while.
Olivia Chandler
Staff Writer
