McGill Campus Life and Engagement (CLE) recently opened leader-volunteer applications for freshmen orientation events. With the university’s decision to delay the Fall 2025 move-in date for first-year students in the downtown campus by one week to Aug. 23 and Aug. 24, many McGill students have expressed concerns over the schedules for Frosh, a set of student-run orientation activities, and other orientation events.

On Nov. 13, McGill Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) Senators Anzhu Wei and Vivian Wright raised questions to the McGill Senate concerning this move-in delay, as it limits possible dates for orientation events for first years. In particular, Frosh events will now coincide with the first week of classes, which according to Wei and Wright, may affect the transition to university for incoming students.

In an interview with The Tribune, Wei explained that difficulties in scheduling Fall 2025 Frosh may be attributed to two reasons: McGill’s term length, and its finances.

“In order to have a [week-long] reading week, [McGill has] to push back the start of school earlier […] to have the same number of school days,” Wei said. “For the 2025-26 school year, [school would have] to start before Labour Day.”

Wei described how McGill’s decision to postpone the first-year move-in date leaves only a few days before classes begin for Frosh to take place, in an effort for the university to cut residence costs.

“The reason that [McGill provided] is that they didn’t have the resources […] to open residences earlier,” Wei said. “They needed the time to train resident workers. It is a financial reason that they’re not opening [residences] earlier.”

In addition, the McGill Media Relations Office (MRO) wrote to The Tribune that the adjusted move-in dates will allow for maintenance and renovation in residences.

Elisha-Grace King, U1 Arts & Science, expressed concerns about the potential new timing of Frosh.

“Frosh being before classes started gave me a lot of time to meet new people and explore the McGill area,” King said. “The extra free time [was] good downtime as Frosh is super exhausting with the amount of walking and late-night events that [took] place.”

Both Wei and King speculated how the shortened period between move-in, Frosh, and the start of classes may be harmful to incoming students.

“I think it’s going to have a really big negative impact on first-year students,” Wei said. “To not give them that time to be able to adjust and be able to find their foothold in Montreal, I think it’s just pretty horrible.”

“Starting first year and adjusting to the university pace can be quite overwhelming,” King said. “If Frosh happens [alongside classes], new students might not have a strong foundation of friends to lean on when things get stressful at school.”

Wei noted that the AUS has discussed their concerns with Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Angela Campbell and Dean of Students Tony Mittermaier. He reported that while Campbell and Mittermaier acknowledged the AUS’s concerns, they remain unwilling to reverse the change in Frosh timing.

In a written statement to The Tribune, the MRO affirmed that Campbell, members of CLE, and student leaders have had discussions regarding the well-being of first-year students.

“Our Student Life and Learning units have always worked with student leaders to provide the best student experience at McGill and will continue to do so,” the MRO wrote. “Student leaders were understandably concerned about Frosh overlapping with classes, so the group explored a number of options.”

The MRO concluded its statement by announcing a tentative decision on the Frosh schedule.

“Frosh would start on Aug. 29, after the start of classes, and run through Labour Day weekend to Sept. 1, with the possibility of some Sept. 2 events, to be determined in the coming months,” the MRO wrote. “The final Frosh schedule will be communicated to students during the summer.”

King suggested that McGill should ensure there are no scheduling conflicts between Frosh events and classes.

“Making sure students have time to settle into both the academic and social aspects of McGill are key to setting them up for success,” she said.