Misguided & Inappropriate - Growing Opposition Over Royal Charter for Cape Breton Gaelic College

As Transceltic reported in its 19 December 2013 Blog, "Historical Tensions Erupt - Scots Gaelic College in Canada's Cape Breton In Crisis Over Royal Charter", the granting of a Royal Charter to the Cape Breton Gaelic College caused an upwelling of long simmering bitterness and resentment toward the historical persecution of Gaelic speakers at the hands of the British government. 

The controversy erupted when the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Cape Breton Gaelic College announced the Queen had "honoured"  the school by allowing it to be called "The Royal Gaelic College".  An immediate uproar ensued with critics pointing to the brutal historical treatment of Scots Gaelic speakers at the hands of the Crown.  The reaction by the critics was typified by that of Alan MacMaster, a member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, who was quoted saying that the change in the name of the College to include the "Royal" designation brought back bitter memories: "When we have an institute that is focused on telling people to learn Gaelic and being named with a term that connects to an identity that has a strong role in the history of our people, of eliminating Gaelic that is what is causing people to become upset. The people who sought the royal designation did not stop to think about all the Gaels out there who would find the term offensive and hurtful given the history of the Crown trying to eradicate the Gaelic language and culture.  There was a concerted effort to break the Gaelic peoples of Scotland; it was a plan to ethnically cleanse the people. - Alan MacMaster

The uproar was followed by the resignation of the College Board Chairman, Alex Morrison, who in his statement of resignation seems to refuse to acknowledge the depth of feeling on the part of those opposed.  In turn, the remaining Board members were reported determined in their support of the "Royal" designation.  The acting Chairman, Kirk MacRae, who assumed his post with the resignation of Morrison, made the following statement, reported in the Cape Breton Post, which opponents to  the "Royal" designation can only but find provocative: "There's going to be no change," said MacRae. "It's wonderful the passion people have and I understand their points of view, and I respect their points of view. We (were) bestowed this, and for the board, everyone, I felt genuinely thought we were going forward and it was a good thing. The name doesn't take away from the day-to-day activities of college, and that's to grow the Gaelic culture and language."

This in turn has led to reports this week of a movement to force the Board to reject the  Royal endorsement.  The Cape Breton Post, under the headline "It was Misguided, Inappropriate - Gaels Group Petitions to Have Royal Gaelic College Remove Royal From Name", and from the web site "The News", "Gaels Ask Royal College To Remove Royal From Name", report that a determined group of language activists are campaigning against the College administration to force them to drop the "Royal" designation. The depth of the feeling against the "Royal" designation is expressed by the following comment posted to the on-line petition: “I believe the designation was sought with good intention but I think it was misguided, inappropriate and the Gaelic community here in Cape Breton would be better served celebrating our own, rather than seeking endorsements from the British crown”.

A link to the on-line petition can be found below. It is reported that at latest count approximately 350 people have signed the petition, the text of which is as follows: We, the undersigned, petition the Board of Governors of Colaisde na Gàidhlig to allow the Gaelic community to foster, celebrate, and continue its cultural revitalization process by removing the “Royal” prefix, as bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II, and all its colonial associations.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/the-royal-cape-breton-gaelic-college  

http://www.ngnews.ca/News/Local/2014-01-28/article-3593759/Gaels-ask-Royal-Gaelic-College-to-remove-royal-from-name/1

http://www.capebretonpost.com/News/Local/2013-12-17/article-3547558/Gaelic-college-chair-resigns-over-royal-rumble/1

http://www.capebretonpost.com/section/2014-01-28/article-3594444/It-was-misguided,-inappropriate/1