The Tribune‘s Editorial Board presents its midterm reviews of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) executives. Tribune editors researched and communicated with each executive before leading an Editorial Board discussion on the executives’ work and accomplishments. Editors with conflicts of interest abstained from discussing, writing, and editing relevant reviews.
SSMU President: Dymetri Taylor
In his second term as SSMU President, Dymetri Taylor has attempted to balance the power between SSMU’s executive board and Legislative Council (LC). He has also worked alongside the rest of the executives to provide a new free meal service on campus. Although this is a temporary solution before the next school year to address the closure of food coalition Midnight Kitchen, Taylor would prefer to continue using a catering company in the future.
Into the winter semester, Taylor is interested in the possibility of instituting a new student fee for athletics at approximately $10 CAD per student. This fee would help navigate challenges following recent cuts to McGill’s varsity and club program, and would cushion McGill Athletics with $500,000 CAD in additional funds each school year. Taylor stated to The Tribune that he remains committed to protecting student activism on campus. He has expressed worries about minority groups of students voting on strike procedures and disrupting class during the Shut it Down strikes, but will continue supporting striking students as long as they follow procedure.
SSMU VP Clubs and Services: Hamza Abu Alkhair
Since assuming his role in January, Hamza Abu Alkhair has been focused on reconfiguring the SSMU club portal, the SSMU website, and the mandatory SSMU workshop program for clubs and services—which he has turned into a Udemy course. These projects reflect Abu Alkhair’s commitment to increasing clarity, accessibility, and engagement between the SSMU and both its current and prospective club and service members. Abu Alkhair has also been overseeing the post-Midnight Kitchen transition to a Food Services & Hospitality Manager-run lunch service, and has successfully increased sponsor presence at SSMU’s biannual Activities Nights.
Looking forward, Abu Alkhair is focused on planning a Winter Carnival with the VP Internal to provide students the chance to participate in an SSMU event not centred on drinking. He will also continue to manage the SSMU backlog of club applications and focus on making SSMU service evaluations more transparent. In the upcoming semester, Abu Alkhair must ensure that any moves towards internal, administrative transparency are made equally evident to SSMU’s external constituency—such as consulting with and accepting feedback from ISGs about potential upcoming changes to their Internal Regulations.
SSMU VP Finance: Jean-Sébastien Leger
After being hired in mid-October, Jean-Sébastien Leger has worked quickly to embody the role, focusing on bridging the five-month VP Finance vacancy since last academic year that caused a significant disruption in SSMU’s fiscal operations. What was supposed to be a month-long training process became a week-long onboarding for Leger. He immediately took on important tasks that were left behind during the disruption, such as the revised SSMU budget that will be presented in mid-December.
Moving into the new semester, Leger will continue to dedicate himself to SSMU’s constituency. He will revisit different club services and funding to make sure every dollar is well-spent. He will also develop new strategies for investment and providing services, making sure the student union’s budget is as efficient as possible. In light of the 2025 SSMU Fall Referendum, during which voters rejected the motion of the base fee increase, Leger will have to work to keep SSMU in the zone of a healthy deficit or surplus despite decreased student society funding.
SSMU VP External: Seraphina Crema-Black
Per her goals coming into office, VP External Seraphina Crema-Black has prioritized advocating against Quebec tuition hikes in collaboration with McGill’s administration, political clubs, and other Montreal universities. She also organized a series of hands-on political organizing workshops focused on tenant rights, harm reduction, student strikes, food insecurity, and migrant justice to foster political engagement. Crema-Black helped lead an SSMU lunch distribution program, which has provided students 150 free vegan meals a day. She offered support to groups including Divest McGill, McGill Students for Uyghur Solidarity, Working Alternatives McGill, anti-austerity organizers, Independent Jewish Voices, and Students for Migrant Justice during her term.
Crema-Black reports that she has had “substantive dialogue” with McGill administration on student priorities such as divestment from genocide in Palestine. She is currently working on efforts to make the old Chez Gautier building on av. du Parc into an affordable housing initiative. Next semester, she will host QPIRG’s Spring Into Action series. She also hopes to increase SSMU referendum voter turnout and expand SSMU’s free food program.
SSMU VP University Affairs: Susan Aloudat
Susan Aloudat’s campaign to be SSMU VP University Affairs—which ran uncontested—centred on an open-door policy. In line with this goal, her term has focused on expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion practices on campus. She created and is now working to expand the TLDR series on governance documents, implemented an STM Emergency transportation subsidy during the most recent STM strike, and expanded SSMU’s menstrual health portfolio. Aloudat has also focused on increasing advocacy for Arab and Muslim students, as the SSMU does not have a portfolio dedicated to these communities. With her influence, McGill libraries agreed to make available designated prayer spaces, a resource she hopes will be implemented by December exams.
Looking forward, Aloudat is hoping to exercise the trust she has developed with university administrators in order to further vouch for student interests, such as divestment from Israel’s genocide. During the second half of her term, Aloudat will continue to focus on increasing SSMU resources’ accessibility, developing long-term resources for underrepresented communities, and creating a culture of trust between McGill administrators and students.
SSMU VP Internal: Minaal Mirza
Minaal Mirza stepped into the role of VP Internal in late October with three immediate goals: Rebuilding the foundation between the Internal portfolio and SSMU staff, increasing the number of events SSMU will host this academic year, and revamping communication with students. To compensate for her late start, Mirza spent her first two weeks in the role meeting one-on-one with every staff member connected to her portfolio to map expectations, understand limitations, and work toward a realistic timeline for the remainder of the year. Her upcoming projects include a Valentine’s Day Ball, SSMU Awards Night, a scaled St. Patrick’s Day event (not a 4 Floors), and early planning for Faculty Olympics.
A significant portion of Mirza’s early weeks has been devoted to rebuilding the First Year Council (FYC), which has lacked structural continuity over the last two years. She has also initiated communication with the Alumni Engagement team to schedule meetings after the winter break. While the Student Social Programming Network currently has enough active contributors to host events, she encourages additional student involvement to diversify perspectives.
Aware that executives often lack institutional memory due to rapid turnover, Mirza created an exit report document on her first day and updates it weekly with contacts, timelines, and useful information she believes the next VP Internal will need. Considering the compressed timeline she is working on, The Tribune believes Mirza has made promising progress across all fronts.
