My first semester at McGill marked my 12th year playing the violin, and I auditioned for the Classical Music Club as soon as I knew whom to email. I was placed in a trio with a flutist and a pianist and we were told to rehearse in a room on[Read More…]
Commentary
Why we need to reconsider Quebec’s subsidization of private schools
Amid the François Legault government’s contentious policy decisions, including recent tuition hikes, Quebec’s substantial financial backing for private schools raises significant concerns for equal access to education across the province. This policy, whereby the majority of independent private schools receive subsidies from the government for each student, not only undermines[Read More…]
McGill’s Student Accessibility and Achievement is not achieving its goals
McGill’s Student Accessibility and Achievement (SAA) program consistently faces criticism for not providing thoughtful support tailored to student’s needs and not adequately addressing the diverse range of student challenges. Forty per cent of Canada’s university students self-identify as having a disability, which raises the question: Are students truly receiving the[Read More…]
Floor Fellows are the latest domino to fall in McGill’s decline
On Feb. 15, Daniel Fournier, Associate Director of McGill Residence Life, announced that the Floor Fellow position, a staple of the McGill residence system, would be abolished effective May 2024. This callous decision leaves McGill as the only major Canadian university without Floor Fellows or a comparable position; it will[Read More…]
McGill students need a greater role in their own learning
As a graduating student, reading break was an opportunity for me to reflect on my time at McGill. After a few moments of thought, I realized that I could not recall a significant amount of what I had learned in the last four years. This is emblematic not just of[Read More…]
The Help, Yellowface, and the case against literary gatekeeping
In the past decade alone, numerous fan-favourite books have gone from receiving public adoration to being utterly despised. Many critics of the best-selling novel The Help, in which a white woman depicts the lives of Black maids, have accused author Kathryn Stockett of perpetuating stereotypes and exploiting anti-Black racism, prompting[Read More…]
The latest draft of Bill 96 is the latest demonstration of Quebec’s lose-lose francophone agenda
The most recent draft of Quebec’s Bill 96 is yet another in a long line of regulations whose promotion of the French language comes at the unnecessarily hostile suppression of English. This newest draft, published on Jan. 10 by the Quebec government’s Official Gazette, imposes a regulation whereby any storefront[Read More…]
From hypermasculinity to policy advisor: McGill’s alarming choice for Indigenous oversight
In 2022, McGill University began on-site work at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) site, in service of the New Vic Project. They proposed the expansion project would facilitate “state-of-the-art research”; however, the McGill administration failed to complete a thorough survey of the area and investigate the possibility of unmarked graves[Read More…]
Cash for clout: A referendum on Dime
Consumer culture is the bane of our existence -Kiran A Dime hoodie has become a ubiquitous cultural symbol on the McGill campus. The Montreal-based skate brand grows in popularity with each limited edition drop. Why do McGill students like Dime? Are they not just another company selling mass-produced, overpriced, undifferentiated[Read More…]
STM safety ambassadors are customers in uniform, not adequate emergency responders
If you saw an emergency on the metro, what would be your first instinct? Would you intervene yourself? Would you call the police? Ask another bystander for help? Google what to do? Odds are you didn’t say, “Find one of six safety ambassadors scattered around the metro station who cannot[Read More…]
