On Nov. 30, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) published an open letter regarding McGill’s Statement on Academic Freedom, arguing that the statement’s unclear wording allows professors to engage in bigoted behavior under the guise of academic freedom. SSMU demanded that McGill do more to protect students from discriminatory[Read More…]
Commentary
Residence should be a safe space for students
Living in student residences is an experience that many first year McGill students cherish, and for the 2020-21 incoming class, one of the only in-person aspects of McGill left. Yet for many women in New Residence Hall this year, living in residence quickly became a painful part of their first[Read More…]
Addressing the reactionary fight for the unsheltered
On Jan. 6, Quebec Premier Francois Legault announced that an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew would be in effect from Jan. 9 until at least Feb. 8. When asked about exemptions for unsheltered Quebecers, Legault falsely claimed that there is enough room for the unhoused in Montreal’s shelter infrastructure,[Read More…]
The true meaning of building back better
2020 will go down in the history books as the epitome of a bad year, characterized by a pandemic that has exposed the cracks in our healthcare system and other public institutions. In just 12 months, the lives, livelihoods, and well-being of people worldwide were drastically altered by the COVID-19[Read More…]
McGill must reckon with the reality of MK Ultra
Between 1957 and 1964, McGill was home to a subproject of the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) MK Ultra project. Under Dr. Ewen Cameron’s oversight, researchers conducted studies that subjected unwitting patients to high voltage electroshock therapy, weeks-long drug induced sleep, and large doses of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD). Survivors of[Read More…]
Student vignettes from a pandemic
Valentina de la Borbolla, Contributor Talk about the pandemic has been defined by words like “abnormal,” “unprecedented,” and “challenging.” Admittedly, these last months have been all of those things and more, but in the chaos, I have found a sense of normality that I had never-before experienced. Being alone with[Read More…]
The limits of innocent until proven guilty
One in 10 female-identifying students at Canadian post-secondary institutions experienced sexual assault in 2019. According to a survey from 2014, only about five per cent of sexual assaults are reported to police. As sexual assault garnered more attention through the #MeToo movement, many used the phrase “innocent until proven guilty”[Read More…]
Communication through Facebook is no longer ethical
In early 2018, The New York Times reported on a leak of close to 50 million Facebook users’ data—the most significant breach of data privacy at the company ever. According to a cache of documents, Facebook user data had been improperly disclosed to Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting corporation which used[Read More…]
Alarmism about the extinction of French is alive and well
On Nov. 13, the Journal de Montreal published a synopsis by journalist Marie-Lise Mormina about her investigation into the language customers were being greeted and served with in retail stores and restaurants. The full report, which was published the next day, brought Montreal’s ever-present language debate back to the forefront of[Read More…]
Don’t expect much from in-person courses this winter semester
Despite announcing earlier in the semester that the Winter 2021 semester will mostly take place remotely, on Nov. 4, McGill sent an email describing its intention to expand in-person teaching for Winter 2021. The news broke while COVID-19 outbreaks continued to rise within primary schools and high schools, and alongside[Read More…]
