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News, SSMU

Sadie’s permanently closes

by Calvin Trottier-Chi on

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On April 13, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) sent an email informing its students that Sadie’s, a student-run cafe located in the SSMU building, would permanently close on May 5. The cafe–formerly known as simply the Student Run Cafeteria or SRC–had continuously faced deficits since it opened in 2013, and reducing these losses has been an important goal for SSMU executives year after year. Even so, the email notice came as a surprise to many students because, up until that point, SSMU had shown no signs that Sadies’ closure was probable.

The announcement was particularly poorly received among Sadie’s staff, who, according to Assistant Manager Madison Lowe, had not been involved in the decision-making process. Not only was SSMU’s email on April 13 the first time that Lowe had heard about the cafe’s closure, but it felt especially abrupt considering she had already signed a year-long employment contract to work until February 2018.

“Last year we were open for all of the summer, [but this year] we were given no notice that there would even be the possibility of us closing just for the summer, let alone permanently,” Lowe said.

Although SSMU is still honouring its contracts by helping Sadie’s’ staff find employment in other departments, Lowe pointed out that the lack of forewarning prevented staff from making alternative plans for the summer.

“[The executives] intend on finding replacement jobs for all of us in SSMU […] but they haven’t guaranteed us anything,” Lowe said. “Also, there were positions in the SSMU office I would have applied for, but the deadline [has passed]  and we didn’t know about [Sadie’s closure] until last week.”

In an effort to gain clarity about the decision to close, Lowe spoke to Sadie’s Kitchen Manager Simona Trunzo and SSMU Food and Beverage Director Alessandro Sangiovanni. Yet, neither of them claimed to have been consulted about the decision, which only added to Lowe’s confusion and dismay.

“[Sadies’ closure] is very strange because, if […] Sadie’s wasn’t making enough money, don’t you think they would’ve talked to [Trunzo and Sangiovanni]?” Lowe said. “Because those are the two people who are [at Sadie’s] all the time, who order the inventory, [and] who are in charge of sales.”

Former SSMU vice-president (VP) operations Sacha Magder also implied that Sadie’s made promising fiscal improvements during his tenure. In Winter 2017, he rebranded and advertised Sadie’s in order to increase its visibility and business. In an interview on March 30, he claimed that he improved Sadie’s financial circumstances significantly, estimating that the deficit was cut by 30 to 50 per cent over the course of the year as a result of his efforts.

“The rebrand for Sadie’s seemed to be really well received,” Magder said. “We’ve doubled our sales numbers almost every single month, we posted a profit in the month of February, we’ve broken even a couple other months, [although] we’ve still been posting deficits in a number of other months.”

Despite this progress, Magder was only cautiously optimistic about the future of Sadie’s, and acknowledged that it was difficult to justify supporting it given its ongoing history of deficits.

“The issue is that [Sadie’s is] still posting a fairly significant deficit and this is the fourth consecutive year that it’s posting a significant deficit,” Magder said. “Given the fact that the base fee failed last year, it does set us up for a position where we’re thinking on this critically.”

Following the announcement of Sadie’s closure, former SSMU VP finance Niall Carolan explained the financial considerations that went into SSMU’s decision. Seeking a definitive solution to the deficit, SSMU intended to prioritize improving Sadie’s throughout the 2016-2017 academic year, and then reevaluate the numbers at the end of the school year to see if the cafe was worth saving into the future.

“Sadie’s has posted operational deficits since it opened in 2013,” Carolan wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “Having a student-run food operation was deemed a priority for the SSMU, and in 2016 the Legislative Council made a decision to keep the operation running for one additional year.”

Sadies’ financial success at the end of the 2016-17 academic year was in line with what had been budgeted for the cafe at the beginning of the year. The 2016-17 budget provided room for Sadie’s to run a deficit of $100,000, which would be an improvement from the $120,000 deficit of the previous year. Carolan estimated that, in the final budget report on May 31, Sadie’s would have run a deficit between $80,000 and $100,000, which was slightly better than expected, but not enough in his eyes.

“While I am saddened by losing Sadie’s, we can no longer justify continued investment into an operation that is detrimental to the financial health of the SSMU and the range of services it provides,” Carolan wrote.

When trying to understand the decision to close Sadie’s, Lowe theorized that all the money spent on improving Sadie’s misleadingly increased its deficit, making it seem like Sadie’s was a failing business when it was actually only incurring temporary costs. Many of SSMU’s investments into Sadie’s rebranding were expensive, but Lowe explained that they were only one-time costs. To Lowe, the decision to close Sadie’s was premature and unfair because if it had been given more time to operate, these costs would only comprise a fraction of  the revenue that it would make over several years.

“I feel like it could almost look like we’re not making money because they haven’t looked at what they’ve invested,” Lowe said. “The only numbers I want are just Sadie’s [to see] if [sales] are going up, and I’m 95 per cent sure they are.”

There is still no official statement on what SSMU plans to do with the space that Sadie’s once occupied on the second floor. In interview, Lowe cited rumours that the old SSMU executive team had considered moving Midnight Kitchen—a free, non-profit, student-run lunch and breakfast service—to Sadie’s former location. The current SSMU executive team has made no official statement to support this claim.

“SSMU cannot confirm whether Midnight Kitchen will be moving into Sadie’s space,” current SSMU President Muna Tojiboeva said. “We will be clearing up space issues come September.”

News, SSMU

FYC considers additional reforms

by Claudia Leung on

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Many universities have clubs and services tailored to make the transition from high school to university as smooth as possible. In addition to the Inter-Residence Council (IRC) and various faculty first-year organizations, McGill has a First Year Council (FYC), an official student body which was created under the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) in 2013.

At the start of each academic year, all first year students have the opportunity to nominate themselves and campaign for executive positions on the FYC. After a one week campaigning period, first year students elect for their FYC representatives individually via Elections SSMU. According to the FYC constitution, it is the aim of the elected body of five first-year students to foster a strong sense of community through social events and collaboration with other first-year groups. This year, FYC held a Town Hall at Gerts, a trip to Quebec City, a speed dating event, weekend trips to Ottawa and Toronto, and an end of year party.

According to SSMU Vice-President (VP) Internal Daniel Lawrie and FYC VP External Kevin Zhou, the group struggles with its lack of an institutional identity. SSMU Legislative Council put reforms in place in Fall 2013 to provide FYC with institutional support. SSMU executives serve as mentors to the FYC representatives, advising on issues concerning event locations, budgeting, and McGill bureaucracy. However, Lawrie said the mentoring system between the FYC and SSMU is not a formal process. According to FYC VP Finance Marie Fester, SSMU has been criticized for its lack of  communication and feedback. The resignation of two SSMU executives and FYC’s own VP Internal, for personal reasons, since February has made the Winter semester difficult for FYC.

“[By comparison, the Arts Undergraduate Society’s (AUS) First-Year Events, Academic, and Representative Council (FEARC) executives] receive more guidance from the AUS VP Internal,” said  Fester.

While AUS executives play an active role during FEARC meetings, Lawrie said that SSMU has a different role in FYC and provides mentoring on an ad-hoc basis.

Zhou and Lawrie said that there is little institutional memory in the FYC due to the annual turnover of SSMU and FYC executives. According Zhou, this issue has been compounded by the lack of updates made to the FYC constitution, which was last written and updated in 2013, despite the fact that it is supposed to be updated every year.

“Some issues in the current constitution are no longer relevant to the current FYC,” Zhou said. “For example, town halls require resources that the FYC doesn’t have [….Moreover,] the current constitution does not reflect the current structure of the FYC and needs to be something for the incoming council to fall back on.”

Zhou said that there are variations in the time commitments expected of each FYC representative. While other positions only require attendance at a weekly FYC meeting, the VP External position entails six to seven hours of meetings with the SSMU Legislative Council once every fortnight.

“Prospective candidates need to know what they’re getting into, as it is unfair on the people who are committed,” Zhou said.  

At this point in time, it is unclear what reforms will be made, according to Zhou. Fester would like to see FYC funding allocated to different initiatives and for more first-year seats to be offered on campus committees.

“FYC is not just a representative body, it’s also an opportunity for people to get involved,” Zhou said.

Although inexperienced members will always be a problem, the FYC will need to collaborate with more clubs to expand its reputation, according to Zhou. Moreover, Zhou said transitions within SSMU and the FYC will need to be handled more carefully, a process in which both Zhou and Fester are willing to help with when new executive members assume their roles on FYC next year.

News, SSMU

SSMU Council passes Motion to Advocate for Changes to the Code of Student Conduct

by Rebecca Zhuang on

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On April 6, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Legislative Council held its last meeting of the term. During this meeting, the Council passed a motion to advocate for changes to the McGill Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures, addressed concerns surrounding the role of the Board of Directors (BoD), and discussed proposals evaluated by the Library Improvement Fund Committee (LIFC).

Motion to Advocate for Changes to the McGill Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures to Support Survivors

The Motion to Advocate for Changes to the McGill Code of Student Conduct was moved in response to an article by The McGill Tribune titled “It doesn’t matter because it didn’t happen on campus,” published on April 4.

“A student at McGill was assaulted by another student and the McGill administration did not act to protect the survivor of the assault,” SSMU Clubs Representative Adam Templer said. “They claimed that this is a result of the specific limitations within the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures.”

The motion, which was passed unanimously, seeks to increase SSMU’s role in changing what circumstances fall under the McGill context in the Code of Student Conduct and to prevent a similar incident from happening in the future.

“[We are] trying to mandate next year’s executive team to take action in consultation and cooperation with the next year’s senators in order to push forward the creation of a committee involving students and faculty, to properly revise and address the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures,” Templer said.

Templer is disappointed in how the McGill administration handled the situation, in which McGill took little action to prevent the perpetrator of the assault from being in contact with the victim on campus.  

“What happened is completely unacceptable and the survivor was let down, and frankly this reflects poorly on the entire McGill community by the actions of the administration,” Templer said.

Vice-President (VP) University Affairs Erin Sobat encourages students to have a say in any revisions that will be made to the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures.

“The code is scheduled for review this fall,” Sobat said. “There’s also a number of other policies that are up for review in part of the context of the Policy Against Sexual Violence […] so ideally there should be a number of opportunities for student input as to what those changes look like.”

Library Improvement Fund Guest Speaker

According to Malcolm McClintock, the LIF commissioner, a majority of the student feedback from the 2016-2017 year called for having more accessible food options, consistent temperature control in the libraries, increasing the amount of study areas and relaxation space, and adding more outlets and charging devices.

There were certain requests asked for in student surveys that could not be provided by LIF, such as reopening the second entrance at the Redpath Library, as this would require hiring additional security. Other proposals that were rejected included implementing standing desks and sleep areas.

McClintock also addressed the progress of the Fiat Lux, a project to upgrade the Redpath-McLennan complex and to add a collection storage unit underneath the lower field.

“It’s been in the works for about two years, and I really think we need to start getting students’ voices in there because if we’re not smart about this, we might not be able to build the library that best represents us necessarily,” McClintock said.

Board of Directors Guest Speaker

The Board of Directors, the highest governing undergraduate student body at McGill, is in charge of supervising the management and affairs of SSMU.

According to Chloe Rourke, chair of the Board of Directors, a recurring problem is the Board not holding SSMU executives responsible for their actions.

“Complaints that were made by executives against executives were always mitigated by other executives,” Rourke said. “There was no higher body that would intervene, […] and if a complaint was made against a president, there was really no [governing] body that was able to hold them accountable.”


So far, no solution has been found to address this problem, but the Board is open to broad consultation with the community for potential solutions or ideas.

Private, Student Life

What faith is your fashion? Looking into Forever 21’s hidden religious undertones

by Chloe Grant on

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As a presumed general rule of consumer culture, products are available for sale to any interested buyer and businesses are motivated primarily by economic profit; however, in recent years it has come to light that some multinational corporations subliminally promote religious agendas through their product lines and, for the most part, have inconspicuously avoided the detection of their customers. One of these corporations is Forever 21.

For unemployed, penniless undergrad students at McGill, Forever 21 has always been a go-to, ring it up quick, pay in quarters fashion mecca. A lesser-known fact, however, is that Forever 21 has a bible verse printed clandestinely on the bottom of its classic yellow shopping bag: “John 3:16.” This verse reads, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Fashion mecca is perhaps a misnomer; Forever 21 is, in truth, a fashion chapel. Shopping bag evangelism is not Forever 21’s only method for disseminating religious propaganda. Every season the retail chain presents a line of christian apparel, ranging from cross jewellery to angel wing embellished jackets to graphic tees with overt slogans printed across them, like ‘Jesus loves me.’

“When I’m walking around the store it's very apparent, anything with crosses, or their necklaces, I now know is not just a fashionable trend, but actually a religious cross, not just ‘Oh this is so trendy,’” Marie-Laure Droeshout, a Concordia Communications and Cultural Studies student and frequent Forever 21 shopper, said.

The store caters to a market for religious wear that many students have unknowingly been subsidizing.

“I don't think the consumers realize,” Joseph Dahdah, U3 Math and former Forever 21 employee said. “I mean even the employees didn't realize that Forever 21 had a Christian background.”

The multinational corporation with over 600 stores worldwide was conceived through a numinous religious experience. Forever 21’s co-founders, Jin Sook and Do Won Chang, are born-again Christians who immigrated to Los Angeles from South Korea in 1981 with no money, no college degrees, and limited English. Now, the couple have a combined estimated net worth of $6.1 billion. According to an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, their religion plays a huge role in how they operate the company, from turning to a higher power during stressful company decisions, to keeping bibles at their store headquarters.

“God told [me I] should open a store and that [I] would be successful,” Founder and Chief Merchandising Officer Jin Sook Chang said. “Every decision that [I] made has been with thoughtful prayer.”  

“Successful” is a blurry ambition, as it is unclear whether the measure of success is capital augmentation or spreading the spiritual word of God through commerce. Since consumers can never be certain whether they are buying into religious imagery or the latest vogue trend, one surefire way to expose a corporation’s motives is to investigate the company’s conduct toward its employees. The use of religious symbolism and harsh treatment of employees both exemplify the corporate leaders of Forever 21 using unfriendly mechanisms in pursuit of profit.

“[When I worked at Forever 21,] it was always about selling, even more so than in other jobs,” Dahdah said. “Even customer service, I find, in my opinion, is not the best at Forever 21. We have so many customers that we do what we can, but it's all about selling and getting a certain number of sales by the end of the day.”

Forever 21 is not the only corporation to embrace religious beliefs in their modus operandi. American fast food company Carl’s Jr. has a tradition of commencing every meeting with a prayer and the pledge of allegiance. Similarly, Chick-fil-a operates according to the Southern Baptist beliefs of it’s founder Truett Cathy. Millions of Chick-fil-a profit dollars have funneled into organizations, such as the Pennsylvania Family Institute (PFI), that are considered antagonistic toward LGBTQ2IA+ rights. Some of PFI’s efforts include conversion therapy and lobbying against a Pennsylvania state effort to ban prejudice on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Yet the religious tendencies of chains like Chick-fil-a and Forever 21 have not gone unnoticed by customers, thanks to the viral circulation of social media.

“You can’t assume all of your consumers are Christian, let alone impose that on all of their shopping bags. It almost feels like an imposition on public property. Public space,” Droeshout said.  “I don’t think that it’s very right, if you will […] most companies don’t talk about their political views on things.”

That said, there are occasional cases in which the collaboration of faith and business is constructive. For example, the CEO of Timberland, Jeff Swartz, was prompted by his devout Jewish beliefs to refuse a continued partnership with a Chinese factory when it was discovered that the workers were being treated unjustly.

“I have a religious feeling that guides me,” Swartz said in a Fast Company profile. “I can’t show you the scripture that relates to the rights of a worker, but I can show you text that insists upon treating others with dignity.”

There are implications that are important to think about when supporting a faith-driven business. In some cases, the fusion of these two public spheres provides a healthy moral ethic of production, just as religion is a moral guideline in life for many believers. In other cases, a sinister intolerance is fostered instead. Whether or not the inscriptions on Forever 21 bags lean one way or the other depends on an individual’s perspective.

“I think [enterprises are] intolerant enough already now in regular companies that have no religious, or spiritual, or charitable causes that they hold you to,” Dahdah said.

In theory, every religious and economic leader could fluidly transpose a doctrine of faith-based values into a workplace mandate to make the environment healthier for both employee and customer. In practice, not every corporation and individual entrepreneur executes this safely and tolerantly.

McGill, News

Desmond Cole addresses the logic of white supremacy

by Zakerie Farah on

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On March 27, Toronto activist and journalist Desmond Cole spoke as the Debate Union’s David A. Freedman Speaker for 2017. The title of his talk was, “The Language and Logic of White Supremacy.” There were about 150 people in the audience, and over 2,000 people watching over the Facebook livestream. The subject of the event was the influence of white supremacy and how it can be combatted.

Cole discussed how people passively dismiss white supremacy when they should instead actively counter it. He used conversations about James McGill as an example of people downplaying the racist ideology in their phrasing.

“[People say that] several slaves worked on James McGill’s property,” Cole said. “[Instead, they should say that] James McGill enslaved several Black and Indigenous People and forced them to work on his property.”

Cole emphasized how white supremacy benefits from speakers’ reluctance to distinguish oppressors.

“There is a huge pressure and temptation to never talk about [white supremacy],” Cole said. “What are we afraid of describing, by [being specific]? [….] This is how we skirt over history, this how we use white supremacists’ language and logic [….] That is dangerous and when we do not counter it, we are reinforcing white supremacy.”

Cole argued in favour of fighting systems of oppression by calling them by their name, even if it might make people uncomfortable.

“We cannot ever—if we want to fight this language and logic—reside in a comfortable place,” Cole said. “There is no real salvation from [white supremacy].”

Cole proceeded to break down the logic of white supremacists into five steps: “Race has nothing to do with it,” "It’s not about race, it’s about …," “Race may be a factor, but it’s not the only factor," "Don't judge until we have all the facts," and “It was a stupid mistake.”  Sequentially, each point shows how white supremacists try to justify their behaviour on factors other than race.

Throughout his talk, Cole directed attention towards incidents of anti-black racism in Canada. This included the murders of Andrew Loku and Abdirahman Abdi, both of whom were killed by Canadian Police Officers.

“We particularly thought it was important to get [a speaker] that was focused on Canada,” Greta Hoaken, chair of Exhibitionary Debates, said.” I think a lot of race and racism seems to be about America. These problems are not just [in the U.S.], but very much [in Canada].”

The talk exceeded the allotted amount of time by an hour due to the high number of audience questions.

In an interview with The McGill Tribune following his talk, Cole suggested that passivity allows white supremacy to persist.

“White supremacy is like a train, and we are literally trying to knock the train off its tracks, but all of this politeness, all this hearing of microaggressions, and macroaggressions and not doing or saying anything about it, allows this train to keep going on its same destructive track,” Cole said.

Representative of the Black Students’ Network (BSN) Christelle Tessono spoke highly of Cole and his message.

“[The BSN] loved it,” Tessono said. “We were glad to see a Black journalist at McGill discussing some of the issues […,]It is very important to sensitize the McGill community to such issues and he did in such a true fashion.”

Montreal, News

QISS Innovation Seminar Series presents: Cities of the Future

by Rebecca Zhuang on

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On March 29, Quartier de l’Innovation Students’ Society (QISS) held its fourth Innovation Seminar Series, titled Cities of the Future. Speakers Virinder Kudhail, Soliman Abu-Samra, and Béatrice Couture presented their views on urban development and what it may look like in the future.

Virinder Kudhail is currently a Senior Operations Manager at Uber. Since graduating from McGill University in 2009 with a Bachelor’s of Commerce in Finance, Kudhail has been a central player in helping launch Uber in Montreal and became its first Operations Manager here.

“Ultimately, the way cities are designed now actually encourages car ownership, rather than encouraging people to use public transportation options,” Kudhail said. “We’re not building cities around our own needs or the environment, we’re actually building it around vehicles.”

According to Kudhail, Uber follows the trends of affordability and accessibility that can be found in all transportation networks.

“We’re trying to get to a point where people are using multiple modes of transportation, whether it’s ridesharing or public transit,” Kudhail said. “We can use these shared modes of transportation to reduce the number of cars on the road, the CO2 emissions, give back people time, and give cities space back.”

One way Uber can use its information to collaborate with cities is through Uber Movement, Uber’s central information website that launched in January 2017. It allows the public to access Uber’s trip data and researchers or city regulators have the opportunity to consult that information when making transportation policies, construction plans, and operational decisions.

Soliman Abu-Samra is the president of the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) at Concordia University, and currently finishing his PhD in Civil Engineering. His doctoral research is primarily focused on infrastructure asset management.

According to Abu-Samra, in the past few decades, there has been a noticeable infrastructure budget deficit in Canada. This is a direct result of low investments from GDP to infrastructure between 1980 and 2000, which the Canadian government has been working to make up for in the past decade.

“Today’s decision frames the future of our city’s infrastructure,” Abu-Samra said. “[The] future of infrastructure is at risk […] It’s our responsibility as end users and taxpayers to take care of our infrastructure and inform the government whenever we see a low quality of service.”

An increasingly popular solution is to use new technological innovations to aid in infrastructure improvement. One project Abu-Samra would like to see happen is the implementation of smart real-time monitoring systems that assess buildings and pipelines at certain times and create alerts whenever repairs or improvements are needed.

Béatrice Couture is a general manager at InnoCité MTL, Canada’s first smart city accelerator. Smart city accelerators aim to turn start-ups dedicated to urban improvement into mature companies by  connecting entrepreneurs with private partners.

Couture spoke about the importance of collaboration between cities and their citizens, as municipal governments often have difficulty resolving internal issues and usually don’t have the time or skills to unilaterally improve the lives of the city’s residents.

“Cities are not good at everything,” Couture said. “In order for cities to become customer-service oriented and citizen centric […] we need young innovators that will come up with solutions that will be exactly what the citizens want.”

One example of this is “Transit,” which is a real-time app in which mobile users can track the exact location of their buses, or subway, and metro trains. This app was developed before the Société de Transport de Montréal (STM) was able to offer a similar service.

Couture emphasized the important relationship between technology and the future of urban development mobility.

“The cities of the future are gaining soft skills, which leaves [the citizens] to benefit from it,” Couture said. “It’s a huge opportunity and there’s a lot still to be done.”

McGill, News, SSMU

McGill Students’ Mental Health Working Group publishes open letter

by Cherry Ng on

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On March 31, the McGill Students’ Mental Health Working Group released an open letter addressed to Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Ollivier Dyens, expressing concerns about the recent restructuring of McGill Counselling and Mental Health Services (MCMHS). Counselling and Mental Health Services were separate units until they were combined into one service in Fall 2016. This integration introduced the Stepped Care Model, which by design is intended to deliver the most effective and least intensive treatment to patients appropriate to their needs, according to the Student Services website.

According to Dyens, the integration of stepped care has shortened wait times.

“We have eliminated a waitlist of more than 100 students from the Mental Health unit,” Dyens wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “By implementing Stepped Care, treatments start sooner because students first meet with the clinician who will follow their care.”

Though the wait list has been cut down, the changes have created new concerns. According to Erin Sobat, Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice-President (VP) University Affairs, one of the issues has been the implementation of the Client Care Clinician (CCC) role as part of Stepped Care. Existing psychologists and psychotherapists have been assigned as CCCs, who act as case managers for students.

“Students are randomly assigned a CCC who may be either a counselling psychologist or a clinical psychologist (psychotherapist) […] this person is expected to provide them with therapy whether or not they are actually an appropriate match,” Sobat wrote in an email to the Tribune. “Our biggest concern is that this further limits access for students with mental illness to receive specialized psychological care, and may in fact put students in crisis or borderline situations in further danger [if they see a CCC who is not adequately trained to deal with the issue].”

According to Sobat, multiple students have reported difficulties in changing their CCC.

Chloe Rourke, mental health advocate and former Mental Health Education Coordinator at McGill Mental Health Services, wrote in an email to the Tribune that some staff have found the adjustments to their role challenging.

“[Staff] are now being asked to fulfill the role of case managers for each individual student in addition to being their therapists, but this is a fundamentally different role,” Rourke wrote. “A case manager is not necessarily the same person who should be providing direct treatment.”

The open letter also states that clinicians were silenced or dismissed when they raised concerns about the changes to MCMHS. According to a MCMHS staff member, who wished to remain anonymous, it became clear in the months building up to the suspension and subsequent departure of former clinical director Dr. Nancy Low in December 2016 that staff concerns were not being heard and that the changes would be integrated.  

“Many of the issues regarding the harmonization of Counselling and Mental Health Services and the implementation of the stepped care model were apparent to staff members before the changes were implemented,” the staff member said. “[…] there is a feeling that these issues could have been avoided if clinicians and counsellors were properly consulted to begin with.

According to Associate Clinical Director Giuseppe Alfonsi, who has been the acting head of MHS, MCMHS is trying to find an interim replacement.

“Dr. Low is a dearly respected colleague of ours and certainly has been missed,” Alfonsi wrote in an email to the Tribune. “However, we are mostly looking towards the future and hoping to find a suitable interim replacement.”

The MCMHS staff member noted a shift in morale in the unit after Dr. Low’s suspension.

“For McGill to get rid of one of its own without adequate consideration of the effect on staff, and more importantly students, sends a clear message about the administration's priorities,” the staff member said.

Morgan Grobin, U3 Engineering, believes the integration is a step in the right direction, though she has encountered barriers in accessing the help she needs. Grobin waited from November 2016 to January 2017 to see a counsellor and was first referred to a psychiatric nurse before finally getting an appointment with a psychiatrist who was able to prescribe her medication.

“I wish the counsellor could have referred me directly to the psychiatrist,” Grobin said. “Once I accessed care, the outcome was always positive.”

Another student, who asked to remain anonymous, was hospitalized in second year and saw a psychiatrist, but was not set up for follow up appointments. Since then, the student has seen 10 other counsellors, psychiatrists, and therapists, several of whom left or went on leave shortly after beginning the student’s sessions. The student’s current therapist is reducing her hours.

“The feeling I’m getting is that there were a lot of promises made regarding the integration,” the student said. “I think [the doctors] are getting frustrated with the way things are getting set up. There are bound to be difficulties in putting together two offices that were working separately.”

Dyens noted that end-of year surveys have been scheduled for the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD), the Student Health Service, and MCMHS. Dyens expressed that MCMHS is open to hearing student feedback.

“We [will] continue to listen to students about their concerns and will continue to adjust our services and practices as need be in order to better serve their needs,” Dyens wrote. “We want all our students to be treated with respect and care […] We will respond [to the open letter] by making sure our services are the best they can be.”

Letters to the Editor, Opinion

Letter to McGill: ‘The student code should include a commitment to personal integrity, on and off campus’

by Kathryn Leci on

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This article is in response to the Tribune's article 'It doesn't matter because it didn't happen on campus'  published on April 4, 2017.

I am acutely aware of the fact that my situation is not unique. Other students have suffered similar experiences, some far more severe than mine, and have yet to see any form of recourse. I am coming forward with this story because I trust that the facts of the case are difficult to dispute, and the lack of response is unconscionable. 

The student code should include a commitment to personal integrity, on and off campus. Therefore, being charged with a violent crime—meaning that there is enough probable cause for your arrest—should warrant concrete disciplinary action from the university. Attending a prestigious university like McGill is a privilege, we all worked hard to earn our seat here, and we are deserving of a safe campus. 

Again—my goal is to seek a change for the better for our student community. We can modify the student code as we see fit, but it will require working with, and not against, the administration.

—Kathryn Leci, U4 Chemical Engineering

Sports

2016-17 McGill Tribune Redmen Awards

by Joe Khammar, Aaron Rose on

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Team of the Year: Redmen Baseball

Redmen Baseball was dominant from start to finish this season, posting a 15-1 regular season record and cruising through the postseason to clinch the team’s third-straight CCBA national championship. In the first round of the CCBA playoffs, the Redmen conquered the Montreal Carabins to advance, claiming the first and third games of the best-of-three series. In round two, they swept the Concordia Stingers to win the CCBA North conference. Then, they broke out at the national championship, scoring 37 runs while allowing just 11 in the five-game tournament.

In the final game, starting pitcher Simon Brisebois was lights-out for the Montreal Carabins, but, tied 2-2 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, first-year catcher Christopher Stanford took a 1-0 fastball over the left-centre field wall to walk-off with the championship. Head Coach Jason Starr deserves a lot of credit for the squad’s success and for never letting them rest on their laurels throughout the year.

 

(mcgillathletics.com)
(mcgillathletics.com)

 

Male Rookie of the Year: Andrew Seinet-Spaulding (Redmen Football)

This 300-pound monster established himself as not only the best rookie, but the best defensive tackle in the RSEQ. Freshmen Andre Seinet-Spaulding’s penchant for pushing the pile rewarded him with 29 total tackles and 3.5 sacks. 

Seinet-Spaulding’s space-eating presence netted him the RSEQ Defensive Rookie of the Year award. At the McGill Football Awards Gala on March 25, he was given the Students’ Society Trophy for McGill Team MVP, the Friends of McGill Football Trophy for Best Defensive Player, and the Charlie Baillie Trophy for most outstanding team player. He is only the third freshmen in McGill history to be awarded the Students’ Society Trophy.

Seinet-Spaulding’s continued dominance on the field bodes well for a McGill team that finished the season 4-4—Redmen football’s best record since 2006. Head Coach Ronald Hilaire has the team moving in the right direction and having a game-breaking young talent like Seinet-Spaulding makes his job that much simpler.

 

(mcgillathletics.ca)
(mcgillathletics.ca)

 

Redmen Athlete of the Year: Spencer Bromley (Redmen Lacrosse)

Redmen lacrosse attacker Spencer Bromley continued his streak of excellence this season.  He led the CUFLA East Division in goals scored and was third in overall points. His efforts helped secure first place for McGill going into nationals.

The senior captain was announced as a CUFLA All-Canadian, along with teammates midfielder Emile Sassone-Lawless and defender Bradley Hofmann. Bromley is no stranger to superhuman feats, scoring six goals in a game on two separate occasions. The first occurred on Oct. 16 during a 15-8 smackdown of the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, with the second coming the following week against the Queen’s Gaels.

As a sign of his continued success, Bromley was the first McGill athlete ever drafted by the National Lacrosse League (NLL). He was selected 48th overall in the fifth round by the Saskatchewan Rush—a fitting end to the university career of the best lacrosse player in McGill history. 

(mcgillathletics.com)
(mcgillathletics.com)

 

Coach of the Year: David DeAveiro (Redmen Basketball)

In his seventh season with the Redmen, Head Coach David DeAveiro led his squad to their fifth consecutive first-place finish in the RSEQ regular season. With a roster full of veteran talent, the squad cruised through the conference playoffs, beating the Laval Rouge et Or before clinching gold with an 82-65 beatdown over the UQÀM Citadins.

Despite losing their starting point guard Kendrick Jolin to an upper-body injury late in the season, the Redmen managed to remain hot, heading into the U Sports National Tournament as the third seed. After a heartbreaking 72-69 loss last year in the first round against the University of Calgary Dinos, McGill was determined to exorcise their first-round demons and advance. Against a strong Manitoba Bison squad, the Redmen jumped ahead early and never looked back, downing the Bison 63-53. Though the squad lost in the second round to the eventual national-champion Carleton Ravens, the team’s fourth-place finish ties McGill’s best finish in 40 years.

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