On the cusp of the new season for the Victoria Shamrocks, their biggest fan John Horgan was honoured at the site of Langford’s new post-secondary education campus.
Royal Roads University (RRU) has announced that its Langford building, at the corner of Peatt Road and Goldstream Avenue, will be named RRU Langford – John Horgan Campus, in honour of the lacrosse fan and former B.C premier, who died in November last year.
“A tribute to a leader whose vision and advocacy helped bring post-secondary education to this growing region,” said the university in a news release.
The new name for the RRU campus was announced at a special ceremony Friday (May 23) with members of Horgan’s family, B.C. Premier David Eby, RRU president Dr. Philip Steenkamp and other dignitaries in attendance.
“The reason we've got a campus here in Langford is John recognized it with his kids … the kids of Langford, the West Shore, all the way up to Sooke – that getting into UViv, and getting into Camosun was a challenge for our kids out here,” said Langford–Highlands MLA and Minister of Forests Ravi Parmar, dressed in his Shamrocks jersey – a nod to Horgan, his friend and mentor.
Premier Eby said the John Horgan Campus was a “fitting and appropriate” tribute to a man he described as a “remarkable champion of education.”
“John from Langford loved the place he called home, and I think it would have brought that signature smile to his face to hear about this campus opening in his community,” he said.
The John Horgan Campus is “just the first building on a full campus,” explained Eby. The one-stop education site will also house students from the University of Victoria, Justice Institute of BC, Camosun College and the Sooke School District.
Courses are expected to start in the fall, with an Indigenous name for the “full campus” expected to be announced at a later date, explained a representative of RRU.
In addition to the new name, RRU has announced the creation of the John Horgan Entrance Award, which will provide financial support to new undergraduate students attending RRU programs at the Langford campus.
A fundraising target of $1 million has been set by the university, who hope to achieve its goal by Aug. 7, which would have been Horgan’s 66th birthday.
Kicking off the campaign was Steenkamp, with a personal donation of $25,000, who at the ceremony recalled how Horgan approached him in 2019 with his vision for the campus
“He said to me, in his usual blunt way — you need to get out of your castle and out from behind those walls and be part of the community,” said Steenkamp. “And here we are. So John, we took that ammunition seriously.”
In the days after Horgan’s death in November, a campaign was launched to name the campus in his honour. But according to his wife Ellie Horgan, rumours of the campus’ name reached the former premier in September, when he was in hospital in Berlin.
“There's a movement and it's growing to name the campus after you,” she recalled for the crowd, explaining how Horgan had dismissed the idea.
“[John said] That’s just silly, they should name it after somebody who deserves it,” she added.
Speaking on behalf of the Horgan family, wife Ellie said they are “thrilled beyond belief” about the campus name.
But she did have some suggestions for future courses at the campus.
“John would have expected – or would have been even more happy because he was just such a science fiction geek – if there was astronomy, space exploration and electives for rock polishing.
“That's all I have to say,” she said with a smile.
