From April 2-4, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) engaged in a three-day student strike to pressure the university to cut financial and academic ties with the Israeli state. In addition to demands for McGill to divest from and cease partnerships with institutions complicit in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, the strike called for disciplinary immunity for students advocating for Palestine. This marks the first time since 2004 that the student union has been on strike.
Students first brought the motion to strike for Palestine to SSMU through a Special General Assembly on March 27. As 679 of the 692 students in attendance voted in its favour, the motion passed and was put to the student union membership for a ratification vote. Seventy-two per cent of voting students cast a “Yes” ballot to ratify the motion.
Organizers encouraged students to participate in strike programming activities instead of attending classes, including educational activities such as film screenings, teach-ins, and workshops.
Tuesday, April 1, 5:00 p.m.: McGill affirms that academic activities will continue during the strike
A day before the strike, Provost and Executive Vice-President (Academic) Christopher Manfredi released an email statement noting that the university would continue to hold scheduled academic activities such as classes and labs amid the strike.
“Students who choose to participate in the strike will not be entitled to academic accommodations for missed coursework,” Manfredi wrote. “Instructors should refrain from using class time or university resources (e.g., myCourses) to promote strike-related activities.”
Manfredi acknowledged students’ rights to assembly but affirmed that strikers could not obstruct university activities.
Tuesday, April 1, 2:00 p.m.: SPHR launches form to report non-cancelled classes
On April 1, Students for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance (SPHR) at McGill released a “Report Your Non-Compliant Prof” Google Form that allowed students to anonymously report the date, time, and location of any of their uncancelled classes. No field in the form requested professors’ names. The form’s header advised students to first reach out to their professors and ask that they cancel classes before turning to the form.
Wednesday, April 2, 3:00 p.m.: McGill and SSMU issue statements calling for peaceful and voluntary strike
In an email to staff and students on April 2, Angela Campbell, Interim Deputy Provost, Student Life and Learning, released a statement condemning SPHR’s online form. Campbell alleged the form violated McGill’s policies, including the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures.
“Some instructors are concerned that if they are ‘reported’ their classes will be obstructed, and they and their students will be harassed, by protesters over the coming days,” Campbell wrote. “Such an intimidation tactic is totally unethical, unacceptable, and damaging to our community.”
SSMU echoed the McGill administration’s stance in a statement released on the afternoon of April 2 via their official Instagram page. They criticized “a petition circulating online which asks students to report on professors who choose to hold class during the strike,” likely referring to SPHR’s form. They condemned the petition as “promoting actions contrary to a peaceful strike” and called for non-confrontational, voluntary acts of protest.
When asked about SSMU’s statement, a representative from SPHR who wished to remain unnamed told The Tribune that the student union should represent the democratic will of the student body by calling on professors to comply with the strike.
“Since this is a strike that SSMU is upholding, […] SSMU should be demanding professors to accommodate students who are striking,” the representative said.
SSMU President Dymetri Taylor confirmed in an interview that the student union’s Instagram post did not go through the student union’s Legislative Council or Board of Directors, as is standard procedure. Taylor stated that the message was pushed out quickly to affirm SSMU’s adherence to its Constitution.
“It was simply the SSMU following through with its messaging [….] That way, [SSMU] couldn’t be held responsible for the actions of other groups that don’t actually have association with the SSMU,” Taylor told The Tribune.
Taylor noted there is precedent for circumventing proper regulatory channels due to limited time to approve such messages.
“As an example, the statement on the first declaration of the strike motion didn’t go through any of those bodies, either,” said Taylor.
SSMU Vice President of University Affairs Abe Berglas reported in a written statement to The Tribune that they did not have a chance to read or approve the message before it was released.
“For a statement to be signed by SSMU executives/executive committee, every executive’s consent is needed.” Berglas wrote. “For a statement signed by [Legislative Council] or [Board of Directors], there needs to be a motion to that effect.”
Berglas affirmed they intend to advocate for and support students facing disciplinary action related to the strike, “regardless of how their form of protest conforms with the Code of Student Conduct.”
Wednesday, April 2, 4:30 p.m.: SPHR and AGSEM host “Strike Lessons and Palestine” workshop
Organizers held 10 strike programming events on campus across the three days, including a student rally, national march, and fundraiser for Palestinian Liberation. The Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) and SPHR co-hosted “Strike Lessons and Palestine” on April 2, a workshop teaching attendees how to use different strike techniques to effectively negotiate and mobilize. The event speaker, who wished to remain anonymous, shared tactics AGSEM’s Unit 1 (which represents teaching assistants) employed during their three-week strike in 2024.
Rama Al-Malah, a representative of SPHR and co-organizer of the workshop, stated that for the last two years, the student movement for Palestine has been growing, as evidenced by the strike vote passing with a majority.
“We’ve never seen the student body this united and galvanized, but also agitated,” Al-Malah said. “We’ve seen students take up pickets against their own classes. We’ve seen professors cancel classes in solidarity. So, we’re seeing this strike pick up and reverberate across campus.”
The AGSEM speaker first emphasized that trust in the union and one’s peers is key to a strike’s ongoing success. They highlighted picketing as a core method students can use to ensure others feel safe participating in a strike, as discouraging students from attending class provides those already striking protection from academic punishment.
The speaker argued that union members must be eager to participate in a strike, otherwise, negotiations are more likely to stall. They outlined that events such as workshops, like the speaker’s own, should be organized by a striking union to remind its members that strikes are an effective method of mobilization.
The speaker told The Tribune that the most important thing students can do during this strike is “know [their] rights, and don’t be afraid to stand up for what [they] believe in.”
Thursday, April 3, 2:00 p.m.: Student protestors smash window to Dean of Engineering’s Office, demand an end to academic ties to weapons manufacturing
Around 150 students gathered outside of the University Centre for a rally as part of strike programming, chanting, “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.” After about 20 minutes, the rally moved inside the Macdonald Engineering Building. The group traveled upstairs to the office of the Dean of Engineering, Viviane Yargeau, where a protestor threw a fire extinguisher filled with red through the glass door of the Dean’s office. Reportedly, paint sprayed from out of the extinguisher, hitting one staff member inside the office. The rally then moved outside the James Administration Building, where speakers alleged that research from Engineering labs at McGill contribute to the manufacturing of missiles and bombs used in the genocide in Gaza.
“The purpose of the rally is to reaffirm and reiterate the student demands for divestment and the strike for divestment. There won’t be any classes during genocide,” another SPHR representative, who wished to be unnamed, said at the demonstration. “The strike will set a precedent and is part of the long-term campaign for divestment.”
Around 3 p.m., the rally traveled down rue University and ended outside the Roddick Gates. A large police presence surrounded the rally for the entire duration of the event.
“Based on the huge numbers of police, I think the main takeaway [from the rally] is that the administration is incredibly scared of the power of the students [….] You’ve probably got more cops than students at this rally,” one McGill student in attendance told The Tribune.
Friday, April 4: McGill requires McGill IDs to enter buildings
On the evening of April 3, McGill announced via email that students would need to provide their university ID cards to access campus buildings on April 4.
“Our goal is to protect the rights of our students who want unobstructed access to their classes, labs and study spaces,” McGill’s Media Relations Office (MRO) wrote in a statement to The Tribune. “We hope that a day of card access to our buildings will limit the ability of non-McGill protesters to disrupt the core academic activities, to which all of our university community members have a right.”
In a written statement, a representative of SPHR criticized McGill’s choice to increase security on campus as a surveillance tactic. However, the representative maintained that the final day of strike activities went as planned despite this increase in security.
“On Friday we saw programming for Palestine come to an end with a fundraising bazaar and classes being picketed, a […] strike strategy that campus has seen before with law faculty strikes and TA strikes,” tThe representative wrote. “The student movement will never be deterred by these tactics.”
