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When walls talk: Graffiti and stickering for mobilization, resource-sharing, and expression

by Eliza Lee on

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Earlier this week, I was absent-mindedly clicking through a social media timeline when an image caught my eye. An acquaintance had shared a picture of some math-themed graffiti she’d discovered Sharpie-d onto a bathroom wall: The word “series” repeated across several tiles, with “Taylor,” “MacLaurin,” “Fourier,” and “geometric” printed above each. 

Given that I was working on this article, I did what anyone would do—I awkwardly DM-ed her, (“aha this is so random”) asking where this artwork was located. I ended up in the wrong bathroom, but it too boasted an impressive display of stickers and graffiti littered on the stalls. 

As any student knows, these small-but-mighty acts of so-called vandalism aren’t unique to a single destination. It’s not hard to find handwritten notes and peeling stickers on elevator doors, street corners, and partitions between library desks. Impermanent yet often difficult to remove, public, and against the rules, stickering and graffiti share several traits that set them apart from other forms of communication. I wanted to explore how these unique features lend themselves to use by students and groups across campus.

Media of “Resistance-based action”

Opposition to formal rules governing the use of space is baked into graffiti and stickering as forms of media. This is certainly the case at McGill, where, as McGill media relations officer Frédérique Mazerolle explained in a written statement to //The Tribune//, building directors must approve any notices and posters on the university’s premises. 

“No posters are allowed anywhere other than on notice boards provided for the purpose,” Mazerolle wrote. “When unauthorized posters are found, it is standard practice to remove them. The protocol is to remove the graffiti/stickers as soon as possible and when it is safe to do so.”

Melissa Proietti is the assistant director of the Montreal campus of Champlain College and served as the festival director for Montreal’s annual Under Pressure International Graffiti Festival for 15 years. Her research—including her PhD completed in McGill’s Department of Integrated Studies—looks into the ways that graffiti can be incorporated into educational contexts. In an interview with //The Tribune//, Proietti explained that graffiti culture is rooted in the artist making space for themselves in an environment where they may otherwise lack the power to change their surroundings. 

“[Graffiti is] a mindset for people who identify with a lifestyle that’s associated with it, and a mindset of understanding what it means to take space for yourself in often urban areas, city spaces that are really densely populated, and that are not often really equitable in terms of space and living situations.” Proietti said. “Traditionally speaking, and where we see graffiti culture really becoming noticeable in more popular culture is in that resistance-based action, […] taking space and doing it for yourself […] your friends, and for that kind of notoriety.”

Like graffiti, stickering as a medium is shaped by its resistance to institutional and legal rules. Lola Milder, U3 Arts, has been involved with stickering campaigns for student groups such as Divest McGill and Let’s Eat McGill, as well as for organizing against tuition hikes. Milder highlighted that despite their contested use, the persistence and accumulation of stickers across campus works to legitimize the practice in the eyes of students.

“When you come to a place where there are stickers—even evidence of stickers being ripped off—it’s a reminder to new students that there’s something going on that students are trying or community members are trying to get information out, especially information that the administration is not interested in being circulated,” Milder said. “And that creates this classic [feeling] of, ‘oh, there’s something subversive [and] anti-institution going on.’”

In this way, the mere presence of graffiti, stickers, or their remnants encourages more students to join the dialogue and add their own messages. Even messages that are not explicitly political support this “classic” anti-institutional attitude by nature of their media, sometimes quite literally. For example, when the remains of partly torn-off stickers become a surface for a new crop of graffiti, or when one message scrawled on the wall sparks an entire debate below.

From her experiences speaking with graffiti artists, Proietti recalled that many of them discussed a feeling that once they paint a piece of graffiti, it enters a public space and no longer solely belongs to them.

“[The graffiti] does [belong to you], because it’s your identity, but it also now lives outside,” Proietti said. “When things live outside, [they] become part of a bigger picture.”

There are works of graffiti so iconic that they’ve become a familiar sight in my day-to-day life: “FUCK MEN” with “command or declaration? Instructions unclear” printed neatly underneath in response; “you can do it dont give up” on a bathroom wall; a portrait of a person with eyes closed in quiet contemplation drawn in swirly, looping black marker. Indeed, while the identities of these unknown graffiti artists are meaningfully absent from this article, their impact goes beyond an isolated message. It builds upon this culture of resistance and serves as a way for students to assert their voice and express their frustrations toward a university that fails to support them, listen to them, and be honest with them. 

A tool for mobilization and organizing

Given that graffiti and stickering inherently undermine the institutional rules governing a space, it’s perhaps unsurprising that student activist groups use them as ways to rally the public around a cause.  

Milder attested to the way that stickering can familiarize the work of an organized group to students, showing them it’s “safe for [them] to engage.”

“I feel like there’s a rule of thumb or something where people have to see something multiple times before they think of it as legitimate and consider getting involved,” Milder said. “Let’s say the first sticker is just that first thing, and then they see an Instagram post, and then they see an event from afar. And it like builds into [a feeling of] ‘oh okay, maybe I’ll actually go closer and see what they’re doing.’”

Through form of viewing, stickering has the potential to articulate thoughts the viewer may not have considered acting upon and motivate them to partake in the group’s next action item.

Zahur Ashrafuzzaman, BA ’23 and former member of Divest McGill and Let’s Eat McGill, echoed the importance of stickering in familiarizing the public with activist campaigns on campus. They also attest to the efficacy of large outdoor works of graffiti as a strategy to get students talking about a campaign, even if they disagree with its tactics. 

“A group like Divest or Let’s Eat, does lots of different actions with many sorts on campus but some of the major ones that I’ve seen that actually get people talking on an online platform like the McGill subreddit, are these graffiti eye-catching sort of actions even if […] they might not necessarily not match up with [different measures] of impacts.”

Ashrafuzzaman remarked that one of the practical benefits of graffiti’s “decentralized, autonomous […] style” is that certain activists can take on the task by themselves, limiting the likelihood that the artist or the group be held accountable by McGill staff. 

This past week, as I walked home from class I noticed that the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) had put stickers all over campus promoting their strike. AGSEM President Mario Roy told //The Tribune// that the union encourages members to take posters and stickers from meetings and put them up where they see fit as a way to reach community members within their faculty or program. 

Roy noted that as a result, the representation of stickers is a reflection “that [AGSEM] members really want to show to McGill and to the entire community that they care for what they are fighting for, and they really want to win what they are fighting for.” In addition to sharing information, stickers can be powerful visual symbols of the support behind a movement.

Stickering as a site of resource-sharing

Not only is stickering a useful form of student activism, but it can also raise awareness of support services on campus that students may otherwise overlook. In the women’s washrooms at McGill, it’s not uncommon to see stickers for the Sexual Assault Centre of the McGill Students’ Society (SACOMSS), the Eating Disorder Centre of the Students’ Society of McGill University, and McGill Students’ Nightline.

Aiya Hyslop-Healy, U1 Arts and VP External of McGill Students’ Nightline, explained in an interview with //The Tribune// that the group had stickered on campus to raise awareness about their services among students. The strategy has seen success, as some of their volunteers reported expressing interest in joining after seeing these stickers. 

At a time when social media is a dominant approach for grabbing the public’s attention, Hyslop-Healy highlighted that stickering can work in tandem with social media to reach audiences that would otherwise be inaccessible. 

“[With] social media […] people have to actually follow us to receive the content that we do,” Hyslop-Healy said. “So I think that’s why stickers are so useful, because anybody can see what we have to offer. And then they can go and look it up on Instagram and find out more about us.”

Potty talk: Messaging and Location Matters

The words that go into designing graffiti and stickers are also crucial in ensuring they capture their audience’s attention. As the fabled series graffiti illustrates, humorous wording with a relatable message is a sure way to catch someone’s eye. Ashrafuzzaman explained that in their sticker design for Let’s Eat McGill, they try to use wordplay to create catchy messages that are memorable for viewers. Due to the often simple nature of graffiti’s messaging in particular, it relies heavily on shared context for audiences to understand its meaning. For example, messages like “Divest” spray-painted on a building may conjure different meanings depending on what issues are in the spotlight on campus. 

“Around McGill campus, there’s quite a bit of graffiti recently with things like ‘McGill Funds Genocide’ or ‘Divest,’” Ashrafuzzaman said. “In this case, it’s relatively clear given the available context that ‘Divest’ here means divestment of McGill’s investments in Israeli apartheid and genocide, whereas a few years ago, ‘Divest’ would be probably taken as referring to fossil fuels [….] But of course both these movements have been going on for some time and aren’t exclusive in any way.”

The specific locations where creators place graffiti and stickers are also strategic, with the bathroom stall being perhaps the most iconic example. Proietti noted that bathrooms are a unique space for their sense of privacy and safety, opening them up to graffiti as a form of expression. Because of their unique position as private areas that users may perceive as dirty and less maintained, “the rules get a little bit grey.”

“[T]hose spaces are […] kind of contestable in the sense of who they belong to, and how well maintained they really are, and if that’s truly vandalism at that point, or if you’re kind of more taking part in a communal dialogue,” Proietti said. “It’s not like you’re out on the front line of some kind of really intense debate. It’s a really low-pressure place.”

In addition to being contestable spaces, bathrooms are places of repose. Milder spoke to the way that “moments of forced pause” around campus—such as bathrooms and elevators—are prime real estate for stickers because they’re more likely to capture someone’s attention. At the same time, she highlighted practical considerations surrounding the threat of stickers being noticed by McGill staff and taken down. For instance, while staff may consider a sticker outside to be a threat to the university’s public image, one “in fifth floor Burnside” might slip through the cracks.

Milder also explained that when there are other stickers in one space she is more inclined to add one to the same group, fostering camaraderie between the causes.

“It’s almost like you’re supporting the other stickers,” Milder said. “You’re like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna put another one here, and then maybe it’s less likely they’ll take both of us down.’”

*

Clustered around bathroom stall doors, on elevator walls, and on stair railings, stickers and graffiti serve as a timeline of recent student activism—from the Association of McGill University Support Employees floor fellow strike in 2022 to the demand “Free Palestine.” These messages do more than occupy space in bathroom stalls, they support mobilization and organizing efforts and act as a means to share important resources on campus. Their very forms are tools for students to make space for themselves at a university that does not adequately support them or take into consideration their voices. 

There’s no guarantee that the graffiti and stickers we pass each day (the “series” family included) will last. But given the role that these practices play in activism and expression, the writing’s on the wall: For every bathroom door replaced and Sharpie that’s scrubbed away, a new generation of creators will be ready to take up the torch. 

Editorial, Opinion

Assist, don’t resist, TAs in their strikes for better rights

by The Tribune Editorial Board on

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On Monday, March 25, McGill teaching assistants (TAs) began striking following months of failed bargaining and 19 meetings with the university to negotiate a new collective agreement (CA). Last week’s strike vote found 87.5 per cent of the TAs in favour of striking, providing the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM) the power to call a strike at any time. AGSEM’s primary demand is the provision of fair wages, namely, an increase from $33.03 to $46.36 an hour. This would bring McGill in line with the average pay at other Canadian universities, equalling that of the University of Toronto. Other demands include an automatic cost of living adjustment if inflation surpasses three per cent and the inclusion of healthcare in their contracts—which is missing from the proposed agreement entirely. 

McGill TAs are currently the lowest paid at any Canadian university, despite McGill’s massive endowment being the third largest in the country. With the tuition hikes imposed by the Quebec government as a cover dominating the current news cycle, McGill is able to stifle TA demands with lesser pushback. Although the university is facing major financial concerns due to the provincial government’s policies, it is pouring funds into new on-campus projects, including the McLennan-Redpath library complex renovations and the settler-colonial New Vic Project. While McGill is clearly in dire need of better infrastructure, it cannot come at the expense of paying a liveable wage to those who keep the university running. 

TAs are an integral component of the university’s day-to-day operations. Professors and students alike rely on them, not only for their tireless work grading and correcting assignments but also as an important and accessible point of contact for students who are often unable to reach out to professors for help. TAs allow professors to improve the quality of their teaching and maximize student learning by focusing primarily on lectures and class content, while TAs take over the bulk of grading and running conferences or labs. Moreover, the TA position is a significant part of the graduate student experience and contributes to the TA’s own learning, especially for students who want to teach professionally. The university cannot continue to encourage its students to become TAs as a way to work and study while simultaneously signalling that they do not care about their student workers by refusing to compensate them fairly.

Although the strike was a last-resort effort for TAs, it is a particularly effective tool for AGSEM, as McGill has proven time and again how difficult they are to bargain with. By striking, the TAs hope to prove how indispensable they are. Quebec’s stringent anti-scab labour laws provide the ideal conditions for a TA strike by prohibiting the reallocation of work that has already been assigned to striking workers. Although this should apply to tasks such as marking assignments, the McGill administration is exploiting a loophole that allows them to pass this work off to professors instead by classifying professors as “managers” who, under the Quebec Labour Code, are able to take on the TAs’ work. Regardless, overworking professors is not an effective or long-term solution for AGSEM’s demands and is a massive disservice to the student body. 

This strike also comes after the university resisted efforts from the Faculty of Law and Education professors to unionize. McGill has an abysmal record with unionization on campus, and their battle against the law and education professors proved that McGill would rather be an exploitative workplace than a liveable one. This situation also illustrates the university’s sheer power, as McGill locked members of the Faculty of Law out of their email and online services on the day of their strike without justification or prior notification. Given that professors have significantly more power and job security than TAs, this is an incredibly precarious situation for them.

The future for McGill and its TAs is murky, as no one knows how long the strikes will last. As the TAs continue to take a stand, students and professors alike must show their support through solidarity on the picket lines and by reaching out to the administration and demanding that McGill take action. We must resist the urge to turn against TAs as classes continue to be disrupted and instead stand firm in our support of the fight for their rights.

Off the Board, Opinion

When I grow up, I want to still be an idealist

by Caroline Sun on

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This is a coming-of-age story.

At a young age, I signed up for multiple activities outside of school—dance, piano, chess classes, all that good stuff. Being relatively skilled at each thing I tried, I quickly became a busy kid, running to different places each day after the ring of the school bell. The same thing continued as I reached the bittersweet years of adolescence. I picked up the saxophone just simply because I thought playing in my high school’s jazz band during Jazz Night looked really fun. My habit of setting out to do random things and expecting myself to do well at them worked out fairly well for most of my teen years. However, the expectation that I would excel at everything I did became the reason why I would skip school to avoid writing an exam for which I did not think I studied enough. Before I knew it, I turned into what they call a “perfectionist,” or what I call an idealist. 

I like to think of myself as an idealist rather than a perfectionist because I do not see myself as someone who wants everything to be perfect. Rather, I understand myself as someone who wants to attain the standards that I set for myself at the beginning of a journey, albeit, they are pretty high.

Regardless of the choice of word, the fallout was not a pretty scene: Successive burnouts, which I never recognized as such, created a massive breakdown that took the better part of a year to recover from. 

I do not think my story is unique unfortunately. A lot of young people are taught to value achievements over failures, to be competitive, and to be fueled by the notion that hard work is the recipe to success. Sadly, they end up in similar states early in life and are consumed by the unreachable idea of pure meritocracy.

My point is not to discourage people from working hard toward their goals in life. In fact, I’ve still chosen to work hard toward what I believe in since that dark episode of my life. But I learned from it that things do not always pan out the way you imagined they would. This could take the form of a previously agreed-upon commitment turning into something that seems to take up your time more than you expected and finding it hard to manage your time with your new set of responsibilities. If you are luckier than me, you will have an easier path, adjust to circumstances smoothly, and find yourself doing something that you didn’t think about before and find yourself liking it. A lot of the time though, you realize that achieving your goals is not as simple as going after them or terrible things happen completely out of the blue. In those cases, you need to decide what to do next and how to do it. 

Here is one other thing I learned. When you grow up, you have more freedom but also more responsibility over your choices—the dilemma of adulthood. The good news is that you can decide that mistakes and failures are not bad, to certain extents. What I have come to enjoy as well are the times when I find I can work through a tough moment and learn something new. At least, that’s what I tell myself to feel wise.

The point is that it’s impossible to know exactly how things are going to turn out. There is no way to know whether there is a drawn-out path for you and what that path looks like. So, when shit hits the fan—pardon the vulgarity—if you are not able to adjust yourself to the setting, you will find yourself disappointed with life and maybe even worse, yourself. After realizing this, what I decided to believe is that it does not matter where you end up; it only matters if you like where you are and what you do at that moment. The mistakes and the journey are all equally mine.

Sports

McGill24: Key to the survival of McGill’s ‘Other’ Sport Clubs

by Lialah Mavani on

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On March 13, McGill kicked off its annual fundraising event: McGill24. It’s housed on the McGill Crowdfunding website, and various sports teams, clubs, and other university initiatives have donation pages detailing their monetary goal and the background of their campaign. Donations made on March 13 are matched by the university at a rate determined after the donation page has closed. McGill24 is an integral initiative for sports teams to raise funds, particularly for those with tier-two varsity status and club teams that represent the university and aspire to become varsity. 

Over 20 sports teams benefit from the McGill24 event. Several tier-two varsity teams such as McGill Rowing and Martlets Field Hockey rely on fundraising efforts to cover expenses not fully met by McGill’s contribution. Club teams like Martlets Lacrosse and McGill Squash are equally as dependent on this funding, given that they are often student-run and self-funded. Unlike varsity teams, competitive sports clubs receive rare, sporadic funding from the university. Instead, they rely on contributions from their alumni networks and other donors. As such, the survival and growth of these club sports are dependent on McGill24. 

Co-captain of the Martlets Lacrosse team Rachel Anderson shared that the team is fully self-funded and stretches its fees and funds raised through McGill24 to pay for their competitive season and expand its program. 

Anderson remarks that McGill24 helps reduce team fees, making the Canadian national sport accessible for all students at McGill while also allowing them to travel and play in the Ontario University Athletic (OUA) events. 

The Martlets Field Hockey team has a similar story to that of the Women’s Lacrosse Club. 

“While Field Hockey is a varsity sport at McGill, we fall into the second tier, meaning that we are fully self-funded,” players and McGill24 ambassadors Clara Smyrski and Grace Hodges explained. 

By the end of McGill24, the field hockey team raised  $9,310—70 per cent of its goal. As the only Quebec team playing in the OUA, the Martlets face particular challenges. Hodges and Smyrski elaborate that for the past few seasons all of their games have been away games, meaning they spend every weekend travelling to Ontario, and costs tend to add up. 

Hodges adds that McGill24 is vital in keeping team fees down and making sports more accessible. Funds raised through McGill24 are used to help subsidize travel costs and buy new equipment for the team. 

Smyrski explains that the campaign also allows the team to host clinics at McGill and creates exposure for the sport in Quebec. 

Furthermore, another varsity sport that depends on the success of McGill24 is the McGill Rowing team. Varya Kataria, Head Chair of Fundraising for McGill Rowing, explains that as a varsity tier-two team, rowing receives partial funding from McGill; however, they depend on funds raised through McGill24. Rowing is infamously costly, and the team costs stem primarily from buying boats, entering regattas, and paying for practice space at the Olympic Basin.

Following the pattern of high costs, rowing crew fees are 700 dollars per season but ultimately vary depending on funding efforts. This year the team’s goal was to make the sport accessible by bringing down team fees. Kataria explains that a portion of the McGill24 funds goes towards growing their endowment fund, with the future goal of being financially independent from McGill Athletics’ funding.

“If we can offset [crew fees] by anything then it makes the sport more accessible,” Kataria elaborated. “We have financial support for athletes who can’t pay the full crew fees, but that is through the McGill24 money. It’s so important that we keep that money there so that we are not getting rid of good rowers just because they can’t pay the crew fees.”

As many of the teams who participated in the McGill24 campaign have revealed, their success and expansion of athletics at McGill is often dependent on fundraising and crowdfunding efforts. Without contributions from family, friends, and generous alumni, many club teams like Martlet’s Lacrosse and McGill Squash can’t continue to grow and achieve their goals. 

As Anderson concluded: “If we [McGill Club Teams] don’t have money, then we won’t have a season.”

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV

Let’s go lesbians…to the movies!

by Charlotte Hayes on

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From boxers to bodybuilders to road trippers and beyond, the past six months have given us an unprecedented number of movies about queer women. As slow, candlelit period pieces fueled by stolen glances, often the sole lesbian representation in media, feel increasingly outdated, this new “golden age” presents an exciting prospect in terms of representation. Films about queer women are expanding in scope, genre, and number, marking a sharp contrast with their television counterparts, which often face cancellation after just one or two seasons.

A film that could be credited with bringing lesbian cinema to the mainstream is Bottoms. Apart from its incredible script, hilarious antics, and revival of the raunchy teen comedy genre that has been largely absent but sorely missed, the primary draw of the movie lies in its co-leads: Ayo Edebiri and Rachel Sennott. Both breakout stars in their own right, they seem to stand as role models for a younger, predominantly women, queer audience, as well as leaders in a comedy space that hasn’t always been so welcoming to them. Though this trend of genre reclamation and revitalization is particularly evident in Bottoms, it can easily be applied to the success of other recent mainstream movies about queer women as well.

Sapphic stories on the silver screen have also seen a remarkable genre expansion as of late. From road trip movies to neo-noirs, the first few months of 2024 have seen delightfully messy interpretations of lesbian relationships onscreen. Drive Away Dolls is unabashedly raunchy and unafraid to depict lesbian women fully in control of their sexuality, as opposed to continually struggling with some sort of repressed desire. By allowing the characters to freely explore and express their sexuality without being a side plot to a separate heterosexual storyline, a certain level of authenticity shines through in the way these women communicate, engage with, and relate to one another. Moreover, by using genres that are not often explored in queer cinema, like mob movies, the screenwriters can effectively exploit the differences that a diverse perspective brings to a tired or worn-out genre.

In a similar vein, Rose Glass’s Love Lies Bleeding, starring Kristen Stewart (Lou), revitalizes the genre of noir filmmaking from a lesbian character’s perspective. Both Stewart and Glass have spoken about not using a coming-out narrative, favouring genre-based elements instead. Drive Away Dolls and Love Lies Bleeding use this decentring of identity to seamlessly integrate representation into these often violent and grotesque genres. The result is media creation that allows queer women viewers to connect with a story based on their identity while still enjoying the particularities and tropes of a specific genre. 

While movies featuring lesbian characters are succeeding at the box office and online, their television counterparts, like Amazon Prime’s A League of Their Own or Netflix’s First Kill, are frequently axed after just one or two short seasons. Showrunners consistently push forward shows featuring gay men as critical darlings and beacons of diversity, while they often sideline lesbian women even in conversations about representation within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Many of these shows have passionate and young online fanbases, leading media critics to take them less seriously. Consequently, these shows are deprioritized both in terms of awards and finances, making them first on the chopping block when it comes time for renewal. Lesbian films can operate under the umbrella of high art, slipping by under the guise of subversion, whereas lesbian TV shows, with all their glorious authenticity, are more vulnerable to criticism.

It has undoubtedly been an incredible year for queer women in film, and hopefully, it sets a precedent that allows more young queer women to develop stories and characters that reflect their lived experiences. It would be fantastic if the success of queer women in film could help propel sapphic-centred TV shows into second seasons and beyond.

Commentary, Opinion

McGill’s Student Accessibility and Achievement is not achieving its goals

by Yasmine Guroluk on

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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 support they require? The SAA’s consistent failure to adapt causes concern regarding the effectiveness of disability support services for McGill students.

The SAA works online and in-person to ensure widened access for students with mental and physical disabilities. Their services include extended time for exams, shared notes, and guidance to assist in navigating personal and academic development. However, McGill students are required to provide provincially mandated medical documentation from a professional sanctioned by PL-21—an amendment of Quebec’s Professional Code and mental health laws, to gain access to resources. Only then does the program work with students to determine which services are most suitable to their individual conditions. 

Unfortunately, numerous students struggle to acquire SAA support due to a lack of access to proper medical documentation. Many students fail to receive proper diagnoses at the university due to McGill’s lengthy waitlist and have a similarly hard time when searching outside the university due to immense costs restricting access to private healthcare, especially for those who do not have proper insurance. Why is there not an appropriate program in place for those without medical documentation? McGill’s Student Wellness Hub (SWH) is not enough to assist those in crisis. While helpful for some, services such as group therapy do not increase a person’s ability to focus, and the SWH’s months-long wait to speak to a medical professional compounds anxiety. 

When a student does provide proper documentation, there are still numerous restrictions preventing them from taking full advantage of available support. The Canadian government determines the SAA’s funding, affecting the distribution of resources. For example, upcoming budget restrictions could result in a reduction of the program’s operational capacity. Public opinion of disabilities factors into government decisions, potentially causing students to miss out on essential opportunities. Marginalization already affects the stability of many students’ university life due to negative social perceptions of disabilities and when compounded by the lack of accommodation at McGill, it creates a sense of discouragement. 

The SAA claims to modify its support based on student and stakeholder feedback. However, if a portion of this feedback comes from students registered with the SAA, why have so few necessary changes been made? For example, students must sign up for exam accommodations at least 14 days prior to the date of assessment. Attempting to manage a full course load as a disabled student, alongside sign-up dates for course assessments, is overwhelming. While the SAA reminds students through emails and posted announcements, this is insufficient for those with memory and organizational challenges. Additionally, numerous courses do not announce assessment dates within the SAA’s provided time frame. If an evaluation is announced one week in advance and a student fails to seek support prior to that time, they are disqualified from receiving assistance. 

Despite its shortcomings, the SAA remains crucial at McGill, supporting a marginalized part of the student body. From facilitating meetings with Learner Support Specialists to working on individualized academic strategies, the SAA provides essential student services. However, McGill must pay attention to where it can and should be improving. Enhanced staff training on disability awareness, increased support for those without direct access to the SAA due to inaccessible medical care at McGill and across Canada, and better implementation of student feedback are vital to the SAA’s resource improvement. The program must evolve to address fluctuating barriers affecting students, offering personalized supports that ensure equitable access. In this age of an evolving disability justice movement, why is it so difficult to assist students primed for success? 

Student Life

Where to find the perfect iced coffee

by Maria Gheorghiu and Dante Ventulieri on

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A few weeks ago, Montreal’s temperatures peaked at 16 degrees, awakening the insatiable and overpowering urge to get an iced coffee from deep within us. It’s a normal response for any caffeine-driven student, even though the blissful warmth only lasted a day. So, here are our recommendations for iced coffee near(ish) campus. 

Mintar

10 minutes on foot

Mintar has quickly become our go-to coffee place. It’s close to campus, has a relaxing vibe perfect for finishing an assignment, and has a great selection of food and drinks. Their iced latte, made with either regular, soy, almond, or oat milk, is a real star in its own right, and while you can add syrups, it might only take away from the flavour. The real show-stopper is their caffè crema, which is coming back soon. And for an added treat, you’ll get to support a Palestinian-owned business in the process.

Café RÌ YUÈ

10 minutes on foot

If you’re looking for an iced coffee that’s both delicious and unique, Cafe RÌ YUÈ is a great choice. Though we only sampled their basic iced latte, the café’s other flavour options, including dalgona, osmanthus, and sesame, have us champing at the bit to go back. You can replace the milk with plant-based alternatives for 50 cents, and if you already reached your caffeine limit for the day, they have an extensive offering of cold non-coffee drinks. We took our coffees to go, but highly recommend taking the time to enjoy the adorable tableware, the immaculate vibes, and the stunning cakes. 

Leaves House Café 

5 minutes on foot

If you’re in the mood for something plant-based, Leaves House is a perfect option close to campus. It’s even better if you usually feel constrained by the small variety of iced coffee options at cafés: All of their drinks, from coffees to hōjicha super-lattes, can be upgraded to an iced version for free, and you can choose from five varieties of oat, macadamia, or pistachio milk (we’ll definitely be trying the last one soon). Take a break from McGill in their light and airy study space, perfect for clearing your mind and regenerating your energy. 

Café Chato 

15 minutes by metro

When your group project is getting too irritating and you need a break from other people, head to this cozy spot near the Verdun metro station. Café Chato is a vegetarian café and more importantly, a space for rescue cats looking for a new family. They offer an extensive menu of cold beverages and their iced latte is sure to hit the spot. It’s a great spot to take a break, pet some cats, and relax. Keep in mind, the weekends tend to be busy with families and kids, so going on a weekday might be more enjoyable. 

Café Milano

45 minutes by metro and bus

You’ve been on campus all day, shifting between lecture halls and libraries, and you can’t bear the thought of spending another minute in the McGill bubble. Not to worry: The East End is calling your name, and we think you should answer. While the commute might be daunting, Café Milano in St-Leonard is totally worth it, if only for their caffè crema. Think of it as a frapp, but Italian and better in every way. As a bonus, you get to explore Montreal’s changing urban morphology as you ride the bus eastward. 

Honourable mention: Tim Hortons

A few issues ago, when recommending places to get soup near campus, we named Tim Hortons as the place to avoid. While we stand by what we said, we think Timmies deserves a redemption arc. When you’re in a pinch and on a budget, our national treasure has everything to offer. Choose from varieties of flavoured or plain cold brews and iced lattes, or opt for an Iced Capp to bring a nostalgic summer vibe to your study session. Good thing they don’t make iced versions of their soups. 

McGill, News

1,600 TAs go on strike as negotiations with McGill stall over collective agreement

by Fabienne de Cartier on

More in McGill:

Students walking through Roddick Gates on Monday, March 25 were met with the sounds of bells, chants, and honks, as well as a massive banner that read “McGill is a union university.” This picket line marked the start of McGill Teaching Assistants’ (TAs) strike for better pay, healthcare, and indexed working hours.

The Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill (AGSEM)—the union which represents TAs—hopes that this strike will pressure McGill to take negotiations for a new collective agreement (CA) more seriously. Since the beginning of the academic year, AGSEM has met with McGill 15 times to bargain over both monetary and non-monetary aspects of a new contract. 

At an AGSEM rally on March 20, Dallas Jokic, a member of the AGSEM bargaining team, explained that TAs felt the need to go on strike because they did not feel that the university was genuinely considering their demands for fair pay.

“TAs are just really feeling the difficulty of getting by on a day-to-day basis,” Jokic said to The Tribune. “We talked to members who are having to make difficult choices like skipping meals or moving apartments. McGill is one of the top schools in Canada. It’s one of the richest schools in Canada. We know that they have the money to pay us fairly.”

On campus, AGSEM has been putting up posters to raise awareness about the fact that TAs at McGill are paid $33.03 per hour, while TAs at other Canadian universities tend to make $40 to $50 per hour. 

AGSEM’s monetary proposal, which was submitted on Dec. 18, proposed a 40 per cent raise to bring their wages in line with those offered at other post-secondary institutions. The proposal also asked for cost of living adjustments, indexing working hours to class sizes, and healthcare benefits. When AGSEM and McGill convened on Jan. 30, McGill rejected the proposal but was unprepared to make an offer of their own. 

In subsequent bargaining meetings, McGill submitted a counterproposal and offered a pay raise of 1.25 per cent the first year and 1 per cent in subsequent years, and then increased their offer to 2.25 per cent the first year and 1.25 per cent in subsequent years. Neither offer addressed cost of living adjustments, indexing, or healthcare. In the AGSEM newsletter, the bargaining and bargaining support committee argued that since McGill’s offers were not in line with the current rate of inflation, they essentially constituted a pay cut. 

After passing a strike mandate during the week of March 11, AGSEM met with McGill again on March 19 to try to reach an agreement and avoid calling a strike. McGill raised their offer to a 4.25 per cent wage increase the first year, 2.25 per cent the second year, and 2 per cent in subsequent years and offered to put indexation on the agenda of the Labour Relations Committee. However, AGSEM did not feel that this was a fair offer and ultimately decided a strike was necessary.

While on strike, TAs are not allowed to do any work—meaning they cannot grade, hold office hours, run conferences, or answer emails. If TAs do work while on strike, they are violating the law. They are also not receiving pay from the university. Those who participate in strike activities can, however, get strike pay from the union.

Emma McKay, AGSEM’s mobilization officer, told The Tribune that the union is acutely aware that the lack of pay while on strike puts many TAs in a precarious position. They explained that there are a few pools of funds that AGSEM is pulling from to pay those who engage in strike activities or need emergency funds to pay their expenses.

In the absence of TAs, many have questioned who will be responsible for grading coursework. In the leadup to the strike, McGill issued a Quick Guide for Instructors Regarding Student Assessments and a Frequently Asked Questions page about the “labour dispute” with AGSEM, which states professors can take on the grading that is typically done by TAs in the event of a strike.

On Friday, March 22, after it became clear that a strike was imminent the following Monday, AGSEM’s lawyers sent a cease and desist letter to McGill. In the letter, AGSEM’s lawyers state that McGill instructors cannot legally perform the work of striking TAs and claim that the university has falsely attempted to position lecturers, instructors, and faculty as TAs’ managers to allow them to break the strike and perform scab work. 

The letter reads, “It is clear that you are trying to influence the power balance in favour of the Employer by using disinformation and by sending directives meant to convince other employees to perform TA tasks, in contravention to article 109.1 of the Labour Code. Such tactics will not be tolerated.”

The McGill Association of University Teachers (MAUT)—which represents instructors—consulted Melançon Marceau Grenier Cohen, a Montreal law firm that specializes in labour law, and came to a similar conclusion a little under two weeks before the strike began. The association issued a statement to their members indicating that professors may be in violation of labour law if they grade work that is typically evaluated by TAs during a TA strike, as they have been instructed to do by many of McGill’s program directors and deans. MAUT doubled down on this position on March 25, giving their members advice on how to proceed if asked to do TAs’ work.

“If an instructor is asked to take on more grading than usual, as a result of the strike, they should first ask the Dean to reconsider in light of section 109.1 of the Quebec Labour Code. If there is no change, the instructor may challenge [e]mployer direction to do more grading than normal by filing an application under section 109.1 of the Quebec Labour Code as soon as possible,” the statement reads.

Renee Sieber, a McGill professor and the 2022-2023 MAUT president, explained that the administration has been closely regulating what messages managers send out about the TA strike.

“We’re seeing very tight message control; that deans and chairs cannot make any modifications to these messages,” Seiber said. “It is incredibly top down.”

Seiber also stressed that the McGill administration does not seem to recognize the immense value that TAs bring to the entire McGill community.

“We’re all in a community of higher education. Our TAs work with us. They’re often also our graduate students, and we support them [….] They’re part and parcel of the intellectual engagement in this community,” Seiber said. 

Anthony Voileau, U2 Science, expressed a similar sentiment, asserting that TAs have been integral to his life as a student at McGill. 

“I’m a computer science student and the computer science TAs are basically how I pass my classes. I think it’s completely normal for them to be asking for more wages. They’re absolutely essential to my McGill life.”

At the picket line, McKay told The Tribune that TAs sympathize with students who are anxious about the academic repercussions of the strike. However, they noted that better working conditions for TAs would produce better learning conditions for undergraduate students in the long run. 

 “All of us in the union have spent a long time in academia, and we can all really empathize with the situation of undergrads here,” McKay said. “[But] we know that every time we stop the fight because it’s hard, we lose.”

McGill Director of Labour and Employee Relations Francis Desjardins issued a statement to staff and students on March 23 recognizing TAs’ right to go on strike. However, he asserted that TAs did not have the right to picket on university property.

“We expect to see picket lines on public property around the downtown campus, as is within the rights of striking employees. However, they may not picket on University grounds nor impede normal access to buildings,” Desjardins wrote.

In a statement published in February before their own strike, the Association of Law Professors Employed at McGill (AMPL) put out a statement contesting McGill’s claims that picketing on university grounds is illegal, writing that the McGill University Health Centre had been penalized in the past for prohibiting similar picketing by striking workers. AGSEM has referred to this statement to challenge McGill’s claims.

McKay told The Tribune that the union has no intention to implement any hard picketing strategies. 

“Our top priorities when picketing is safety for everyone involved, and avoiding legal consequences for everyone involved. So we have absolutely no intention of doing something that would put our members at risk,” McKay said. 

However, McKay noted that AGSEM would be picketing on university property and that despite Desjardins’ statement, they were legally entitled to do so. 

In the afternoon that the strike began, McGill sent another university-wide message claiming that picketers had partially blocked entrances and instructing students and staff to call security if they could not gain access to buildings or had their classes disrupted.

Some, like a TA named Sebastien, who preferred to only be referred to by first name, think that McGill is using misinformation as a tactic.

“I think one of McGill’s last-ditch attempts at subverting the strike is misinformation. They’ve been spreading a fair amount of it,” Sebastien said while picketing in front of the Arts Building. “Several things that they’ve said over the past couple of weeks have just been inaccurate. We are perfectly allowed to picket on McGill University grounds, as we currently are. They’ve also completely misinformed a lot of course lecturers and faculty. Fortunately, we have huge amounts of solidarity, I think both from the student body and from professors and lecturers.”

McGill declined to comment on the CA negotiations or cease and desist letter from AGSEM. Media relations officer Frédérique Mazerolle briefly commented on the value of TAs and the impacts of the strike.

“McGill deeply values the contributions of teaching assistants and hopes for a timely end to the strike,” Mazerolle wrote. “The University is continuing its operations, prioritizing the measures necessary to ensure that students are not unduly affected by the labour action.”

AGSEM will have its next bargaining meeting with McGill on March 26.

(Anna Chudakov/ The Tribune)
All Things Academic, Student Life

All things academic: Course recommendations

by Abby McCormick on

More in All Things Academic:

As a third-year student at McGill, I’ve taken my fair share of courses at the university—90 credits worth to be exact. Some were hard, some were reading-heavy, and others were just plain boring. To help you avoid the pitfalls of an elective gone wrong, here are some of my favourite courses I have taken at McGill so far.

PSYC 331: Inter-Group Relations

Semester I took it in: Winter 2023

Professor I took it with: Jordan Axt

Why are people prejudiced? What factors contribute to differential outcomes between groups? How can we combat discrimination? If these questions interest you, Inter-Group Relations is the course for you. The class delves into research and theories related to stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination, with an emphasis on racial inequities. Professor Axt, who runs the McGill Intergroup Cognition Lab, provides fascinating lectures with real-world examples and interactive components. PSYC 331 does not use a textbook and instead relies on YouTube interviews with experts in the field and Vox articles to supplement the lecture material. One important note is that this course requires PSYC 215: Social Psychology, but I promise, sitting through the prereq is worth it. 

WCOM 250 (formerly CEAP 250): Research Essay and Rhetoric

Semester I took it in: Winter 2022

Professor I took it with: Zachary Abram

If there is one class at McGill that I believe should be mandatory for all undergraduate students, it is this one. Tackling topics such as concision, grammar, purpose, and style, WCOM 250 teaches students the art of essay writing. I can honestly say that this course is what took my writing from high school to university level. The course includes rhetoric and citation workshops along with lectures and group discussions designed to help students improve their writing. Students can submit multiple drafts of assignments and receive feedback on each one, creating a collaborative learning environment between students and their professors (and a great way to boost your grade). 

PHIL 237: Contemporary Moral Issues 

Semester I took it in: Winter 2022

Professor I took it with: Stephanie Leary

Contemporary Moral Issues analyzes modern-day topics, such as the Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo movements through a philosophical lens. The course introduces students to argument-building, and philosophical writing, making it a great elective for those with no prior experience in philosophy. Professor Leary’s slides are crystal clear and, despite some of the readings being challenging, she does a great job of explaining them. The class also has weekly conferences, which are a great way to engage with your classmates and TAs.

PSYC 204: Introduction to Psychological Statistics 

Semester I took it in: Fall 2022

Professor I took it with: Jessica Flake

You may think I’m crazy for including a math course on a list of fun electives. But, trust me on this one: PSYC 204 with Jessica Flake is interesting, fun, and easy if you put in a little effort. The course details basic statistical principles, including means, standard deviations, and t-tests with examples that are relevant to students’ lives. The grading scheme is nicely distributed between attendance, online homework (with multiple attempts per question), tiny tests, a final exam, and extra credit points for participating in psychology studies. 

CHEM 181: Chemistry of Foods 

Semester I took it in: Now

Professors I took it with: David Harpp and Joe Schwarcz

No list of electives would be complete without Chem of Foods. This fully online, asynchronous course allows students to work through short videos at their own pace. The professors are highly engaging and their passion for the subject can be felt through the screen. Plus, you can use your notes for the exams, as they are fully online and open-book. 

Honourable Mentions:

CANS 301: Topics in Canadian Studies: Leadership in Canada

BIOL 115: Essential Biology

PSYC 471: Human Motivation (PSYC 215 is a prerequisite)

PHIL 242: Topics in Feminist Theory

FREN 201: Le français littéraire (FRSL 431 or a placement test is a prerequisite) 

Arts & Entertainment, Books

’Until August’ —published against the late author’s wishes—revisits desire

by Kellie Elrick on

More in Arts & Entertainment:

“Memory was my source material and my tool. Without it, there’s nothing.” 

Gabriel García Márquez began to write Until August toward the end of his life. It was intended to be part of a much longer work, cut short by García Márquez’s battle with dementia. 

His final verdict was absolute: “This book doesn’t work. It must be destroyed.”

García Márquez left behind five versions of the novel. The newly published version—released on March 6 in Spanish and March 12 in English—stems primarily from two texts: “Version five, dated July 5, 2004,” which Cristóbal Pera describes as García Márquez’s favourite of the five in the editor’s note of the novel’s Spanish edition, and a digital document of all alternate passages and scenes that had not made the cut.

Rodrigo and Gonzalo García Barcha—García Márquez’s sons—waited ten years after their father’s death before revisiting the text.

“Judging the book to be much better than we remembered it,” they wrote in the preface, “another possibility occurred to us: that the fading faculties that kept him from finishing the book also kept him from realizing how good it was.”

Delving into the novel, I was astonished to find this story—the real one—refracted around every corner.

Ana Magdalena Bach (whose name is one “n” short of that of Johann Sebastian Bach’s wife, Anna Magdalena Bach) returns to an indeterminate tropical island every August. It’s where her mother asked to be buried; Ana doesn’t know why. 

She’s married—happily, mostly. But every year on the island, she takes a new lover, just for a night. Each affair winds up, climaxes, and eventually ends in disappointment. A night of sex is soured when her lover leaves her a 20-dollar bill. Years later, Ana sees another former lover on the news, wanted as a pimp, perhaps a murderer.

Her trips to the island are an effort to discover untold truths about her late mother, to communicate with the dead. This is effectively what Until August is: A previously untold story emerging from the past, a window into a dead parent.

The story of the novel is also the story of its publication.

García Márquez deftly blends curiosity and desire until they become one and the same. Until August suggests that sexual desire is not so different from the desire for knowledge—and that they are both ultimately expressions of love.

On the island, between fragmented affairs, Ana reads a number of structurally fragmented crisis works: Dracula (epistolary), The Martian Chronicles (a so-called “fix-up” novel), A Journal of the Plague Year (journal).

The title Until August focuses on the before, the gaps in the year preceding visits to the island, but also Ana’s life before her mother’s death. García Márquez inserts whole worlds into these gaps, leaving threads of other stories in Ana’s wake. 

We are reminded of the worlds existing within people coming and going, music floating into the foreground, married couples taking refuge in motel rooms, flowers on gravestones, and bishops who have sex in hotels.

García Márquez said that Until August should be destroyed. But he didn’t destroy it. Opening the novel felt like divulging a secret, as if I were doing something I shouldn’t. But it’s a kind of infidelity that stems from love.

“In an act of betrayal, we decided to put his readers’ pleasure ahead of all other considerations,” his sons write in the preface. “If they are delighted, it’s possible that Gabo might forgive us.”

To call it an unpublished masterpiece may be a little strong—but it’s still very good. It’s still Gabriel García Márquez.

Near the end of the novel, Ana begins to realize that her life on the island is not entirely her own.

“She did not feel sad but rather encouraged by the realization that the miracle of her life was to have continued that of her dead mother.”

This is what stories do—they continue in those left over after their germination has faded away into the past. We are left to wonder what could have been written if García Márquez had had time to weave something out of the still-hanging threads.

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