TRU 50th Anniversary

For 50 years, our commitment to community and to transforming lives has never wavered. We've persevered through wildfires and economic downturns, and each time we’ve held our promise. Now a global pandemic has challenged everyone to rethink how life is lived and how business is conducted.

Though the COVID-19 health crisis has changed how we operate, we are not cancelling our 50th anniversary celebrations—we’re just doing things a bit differently as we follow the necessary government recommendations and mandates.

We’re still here for you.

That was our commitment when our doors opened in 1970 as Cariboo College, as we transitioned to the University College of the Cariboo in the 1990s, and then when we became Thompson Rivers University in 2005.

We look forward to seeing you at any number of our celebration events, whether they're held online or, in the future, in small groups.

Our anniversary wordmark

You’ll see this wordmark often in 2020 including on campus banners, in institutional advertising and internal communications. To start with, the TRU logo will be accompanied by a special partner this year: a 50th anniversary wordmark incorporating our current and historical colour palettes.

• Current colour palettes: The dark blue, cloud, teal, orange, yellow, sage and grey in TRU’s current palette were inspired by the natural beauty of our geographic region—the blues, greys and greens of our mountains and rivers, the muted tones of sagebrush, our golden sunshine and vivid sunsets.
• Historical colour palettes: Between 1970 and 1989 there were several iterations of the Cariboo College logo. Most included some form of yellow and orange. Red and purple were widely used during the UCC years—1989 to 2004.

In this blog post by President Brett Fairbairn, he looks at TRU's history and future: TRU’s 50th – What do anniversaries mean?