A Ryersonian reporter was denied access to the fall MBA Lecture Series on Thursday hosted by the university.
Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), was the event’s guest speaker. The Ryersonian reporter was turned away at the door — and was told that pre-approval from Leiweke himself was required for media.
MLSE and the Ryerson MBA program could not immediately be reached for comment.
The event’s webpage did not indicate any required pre-approval for members of the media.
The School of Journalism’s annual guidelines specifically request that the Ryerson community not impose barriers to journalism students that would not be imposed on others, and points out that “Ryerson is a public institution; all citizens and all journalists enjoy the right of access to public space and information.”
The MBA Lecture Series created previous problems with the Ryerson student press September of last year when it forced Ryersonian and Eyeopener reporters to leave a Q&A event with Kathleen Wynne, despite having circulated a media release stating that all students and staff were welcome.
The lecture series, targeted to graduate business students, aims to provide a forum for professionals and students to discuss the industry, politics and corporate social responsibility, according to the event listing.
Calvin was a copy editor at The Ryersonian in 2015. He was also an editorial intern at Canadian Geographic magazine.