A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit northern and western Syria and south central Türkiye on Feb. 6, claiming an estimated 50,000 lives, injuring an estimated 100,000, and causing tremendous damage in a region already struggling through the more than a decade-long Syrian civil war and subsequent refugee crisis. Millions of people[Read More…]
McGill
Arts students vote in new executives, strike down motion to raise AUS fees
Undergraduate students in the Faculty of Arts, the university’s largest of 11, voted in next year’s Arts Undergraduate Society of McGill University (AUS) executives and representatives in a ballot that ran from Feb. 20 to 24. A referendum also took place during the same period, where students decided to continue[Read More…]
Closure of asbestos-ridden Stewart Biology building disrupts teaching and research for weeks
Following the closure of the Stewart Biology Building on Feb. 6 after burst water pipes led to an exposure risk to asbestos, all classes and research in the building have been moved or cancelled. Students and professors have also grown frustrated from a lack of information and logistical challenges caring[Read More…]
Administration challenged on claims about New Vic at Senate meeting
McGill’s Senate, the university’s second-highest governing body, met for the second time in 2023 on Feb. 15 in the Robert Vogel Council Room of the Leacock Building. The meeting touched on ongoing litigation between McGill and the Kanien’kehá:ka Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers). The Mothers and McGill have been in a year-long[Read More…]
New anonymous social media platform Sidechat launches at McGill
On Feb. 13, many McGill student groups shared posts on social media advertising a new online platform designed for university students: Sidechat. Sidechat’s launch at McGill was accompanied by heavy marketing, with free cookies given to those who created an account, and money being offered to anyone who reposted the[Read More…]
SSMU severs ties with for-profit company offering Grammarly and other services to students
The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) decided to end its partnership with the for-profit company Student Support during a Legislative Council meeting on Feb. 9. The partnership, which provided students with access to Grammarly, Calm, and Udemy, was a trial run for the academic year, costing students $9.99 per[Read More…]
SSMU Grocery Program combats food insecurity at McGill
In December 2022, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) ran a pilot version of its new Grocery Program, which aims to supply McGill students facing food insecurity with free, sustainably-sourced groceries once a semester. The pilot project was introduced as a trial run of the permanent Grocery Program, which[Read More…]
Ex-SSMU employees speak out over alleged workplace mistreatment
After three years of disagreement over their first-ever collective agreement (CA), the second conciliation between the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and the SSMU employees’ union (SSMUnion) occurred on Feb. 3. After being accredited as a bargaining unit in January 2020, the SSMUnion began negotiations with SSMU in August[Read More…]
Turkish students organize donation drive in response to devastating earthquake in Türkiye and Syria
On Feb. 6, Türkiye and Syria were struck by an initial 7.8 magnitude earthquake, followed by a series of quakes, including a 7.5 magnitude aftershock nine hours later. It was Monday morning in the region and Sunday night in Canada. Less than 48 hours later, on Feb. 7, the Students’[Read More…]
Students press Board of Governors about divestment and student representation at community session
McGill’s Board of Governors (BoG) met on Feb. 8 for the first community session of the academic year. The community session, typically held once a semester, is the only opportunity for students to directly engage with members of the highest governing body of the university, who make decisions about McGill’s[Read More…]
