Thompson Rivers University will go through a two-year consultation with the community before pushing ahead with a proposal to drop the “s” in the university’s name.

Sloof Lirpa, chair of TRU’s Drop the S Task Force, says “Changing the name to Thompson River University is really much more inclusive—our students, staff and faculty are all part of the same river of knowledge flowing through this institution.”

Others insist that keeping the “s” is a more diversified approach, allowing everyone to do their own thing but also flow together.

The tipping point, though, is the hundreds of dollars that would be saved over the next 10 years from using less ink and paint in stationery and signage. Not to mention the thousands of long distance phone calls no longer needed to correct misspellings by national and international media.

Until final logos and branding is finalized, the “s” would be covered over in existing signage and marketing materials. In some cases, this might be unsightly, but it could be turned into a positive with a new slogan: “Bridge the gap”, further exemplifying the river theme.

The next phase of the project will see every “s” removed from the university’s name, so that it becomes Thompon River Univerity. This will save even more money, and promote the ideal of “uni verity” which is derived from the Latin phrase, “one true.”

The community is invited to send feedback on the name-change proposal to afools@tru.ca. Follow the discussion at #DroptheS.