Although McGill takes superficial strides toward inclusivity such as participating in a Black History Month and Indigenous Awareness Weeks, the university still refuses to address its colonial history and practices. The history of this university is intertwined with racism and the enslavement of Black and Indigenous individuals—a fact that must[Read More…]
Commentary
Profanity is powerful, not unprofessional
The Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) Accountability Committee recently presented a report to the Board of Directors (BoD) recommending that Vice-President (V University Affairs (UA) Madeline Wilson be suspended for five days without pay. The recommendation came in response to a complaint against Wilson for her use of profanity[Read More…]
White activists—stop hijacking social movements
The future Black, Indigenous, and other people of colour (BIPOC) imagine for themselves is always in relation to their present-day lived experiences. Since June 2019, students have been expressing their discontent with Bill 21—McGill students consistently rally for climate justice, but the campus’s attention is not given to all causes.[Read More…]
Coronavirus: A case of viral xenophobia
Any sentence that begins with ‘I don’t want to sound racist but,’ will, in fact, be racist. I have heard this, and many other racist and xenophobic things, daily since the news of the coronavirus began spreading on campus. Not many students can claim that they have not come across[Read More…]
Recycling centre closures are symptomatic of a larger crisis
The pile up of recycling in Montreal has reached a crisis which will likely continue to grow, as one of Quebec’s primary recycling operators plans to close two sorting centres in Montreal as early as Feb. 3. Unfortunately, China’s 2018 ban on several types of recyclables has caused a shift[Read More…]
McGill’s medical note policy makes students sacrifice health for grades
After sitting in the Montreal General Hospital for the sixth hour in a row, tired, and with a sprained foot, I asked the receptionist how long it would take for the doctor to see me. She replied that there was only one doctor working that weekend, and that I would[Read More…]
Make mentorship at McGill more accessible
On Jan. 3, a McGill graduate student posted on Reddit to bemoan the lack of opportunities to connect with and mentor undergraduate students. Some commented that more casual connections would be better than none, and others pointed out that while social distance is natural between graduate and undergraduate students, there[Read More…]
Anonymous grading: Reducing bias in educational institutions
Despite professors’ efforts to be objective, grading students can involve personal bias. Recently, certain McGill departments have adopted anonymous grading, that is grading papers and midterms without knowing the identity of the student, as a way of combating this bias. Anonymous grading is an educational policy that all McGill faculties[Read More…]
Protesting from positions of privilege
McGill announced that they will refuse to divest from the fossil fuel industry for the third time on Jan. 8. Gregory Mikkelson, a professor in the School of Environment and Department of Philosophy at McGill, resigned as a result of the school’s continued investment in coal, oil, and gas companies.[Read More…]
Professors’ late submissions to Minerva reveal a larger problem of inconsistency at McGill
The beginning of the semester is often an exciting time to reconnect with friends, celebrate returning to Montreal, and begin new classes. Unfortunately, for some students, the beginning of this semester is full of uncertainty as they continue to wait for grades from the fall semester. Despite the school’s promise[Read More…]
