In February of 2025, following the completion of her honours-level Bachelor’s degree in clinical nutrition in Gaza, Aya was admitted to McGill’s M.Sc. thesis program in Human Nutrition. Now, a year later, she remains trapped in Gaza, unable to provide the necessary biometric data to complete her application. Because of[Read More…]
Articles by Lulu Calame
Student of the week: Nada
After completing a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology (IT) from the Islamic University in Gaza, Nada stayed on to begin an IT Master’s program in September 2023. By Oct. 11, 2023, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had razed her university to the ground. “I felt like, ‘Okay, […] I can’t[Read More…]
My acoustic coup against the classical
I was six years old when I walked into my first violin lesson, and for the twelve years that followed, I stood—posture erect—at dutiful attention to the staid technicalities and smug rectitude of classical music. I was a happy cadet and a relatively successful one, for what it’s worth. For[Read More…]
Opening the Black Box
Shining light on McGill’s Palestinian students stuck in Gaza, and the bureaucratic blockades that keep them there Part 1: Introducing the Black Box of bureaucratic violence and immigration restriction “Our academic aspirations are within sight, and we wish to contribute to the world through our studies. With the goodwill and[Read More…]
Bill 97 bulldozes Indigenous livelihoods
Quebec’s government is moving toward securing unbarred executive control over 8 million hectares of the province’s forests for the forestry industry’s industrial logging agenda. This legislation—Bill 97—pads the pockets of industrial logging companies, while bulldozing constitutional and humanitarian obligations to the Indigenous communities who steward much of the targeted land. [Read More…]
The grassroots of change grow in the playground of conversation
An invitation to reinvigorate conversation On a hot evening in August, I found myself pacing my small kitchen with my roommate and her brother, yelling and brooding and gesticulating like the politicians at Bretton Woods deciding the new postwar world order. In a moment of spontaneous curiosity, my roommate had[Read More…]
SSMU BoD approves motions seeking to increase UGE funding, change executive roles
The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU)’s Board of Directors (BoD) debated fee increases for the Union for Gender Empowerment (UGE), purchasing access to a grammar service, Antidote, for more students, and proposed changes to the executive committee roles at their Feb. 18 meeting. The meeting began with a public[Read More…]
A Complete Unknown’ is a love letter to Bob Dylan’s anachronistic genius
My expectations were high when I sat down to watch A Complete Unknown, the Bob Dylan biopic directed by James Mangold and starring Timothée Chalamet. Dylan’s career is one of the most monumental in music history, and Dylan himself—with his nasally voice, stoic affect, and famous dexterity on the guitar—is[Read More…]
Growing up and down
Two weeks ago, I moved into my first apartment. I have the privilege of living in a bright, homey little place with high ceilings and two balconies, and that of living with my best friend. As my mom got ready to leave, she told me how excited she was for[Read More…]
American students should be grateful for McGill’s rigid grading policies
In the past decade, there has been a massive uptick in average university grade point averages (GPAs) in the United States (most notably) but also in countries such as the United Kingdom. This data became especially alarming after university reports identified top U.S. universities such as Yale and Harvard as[Read More…]
Being a recreational musician at McGill is almost impossible. It shouldn’t be.
My first semester at McGill marked my 12th year playing the violin, and I auditioned for the Classical Music Club as soon as I knew whom to email. I was placed in a trio with a flutist and a pianist and we were told to rehearse in a room on[Read More…]
The latest draft of Bill 96 is the latest demonstration of Quebec’s lose-lose francophone agenda
The most recent draft of Quebec’s Bill 96 is yet another in a long line of regulations whose promotion of the French language comes at the unnecessarily hostile suppression of English. This newest draft, published on Jan. 10 by the Quebec government’s Official Gazette, imposes a regulation whereby any storefront[Read More…]
Campus Conversations: Curiosity
On preserving childhood curiosity Lulu Calame, Contributor The greatest tragedy that comes with adulthood is that it is no longer acceptable to be freely curious. I grew up on a small island on the eastern tip of Maine, and my greatest victories lay in the discovery of a washed-up buoy[Read More…]
An Ode to Studio Art and why McGill’s curriculum needs it
At the beginning of this semester, I found myself eating lunch with a new dorm acquaintance, and making the usual small talk about classes. Add-drop deadlines were coming up, exacerbating the already-nagging sense of directionlessness that is so fundamental to collegiate studentdom, and the two of us felt just as[Read More…]
Bio Locaux invests in the necessary model for Canada’s produce market
Montreal, like so many other cities, has seen a steady rise in inflation of grocery prices. The grocery inflation rate is sitting at about eight per cent, and is expected to increase further throughout 2023. Canadians find themselves on tighter budgets, unable to buy the amount and quality of food[Read More…]
STM constables’ new pepper spray is anti-progress for the Mental Health Crisis
At the start of October, the Société de Transport de Montréal (STM) announced that constables in charge of patrolling the Montreal Metro will now be armed with gel aerosol pepper spray. The STM made this decision in response to a growing number of incidents in the metro system in which[Read More…]
For lack of heft, crumb, and flavour: A manifesto against the Montreal bagel
I still remember my first morning in Montreal, when I found myself in a hungry queue that extended out the door of the St. Viateur bagel shop in Mile End. The line moved fast––unlike those in New York––and I watched hopefully as the freshly-rolled bagels slid into the oven just[Read More…]
Frosh 2023: A test of the head, heart, and liver
McGill Frosh is an infamous four-day university orientation, sending thousands of first-year undergraduates across Montreal to concerts, bars, clubs, boats, beaches, and rooftops. Frosh is not an event for the faint of heart, legs, or liver. Drinking often begins in the morning and continues far into the night, giving the[Read More…]
The beloved OAP: McGill’s essential kickoff event
McGill’s Open Air Pub (OAP), run entirely by student volunteers, is a quintessential Montreal amalgam of fashion, nonchalance, music, beer, and social hubbub. Held at the beginning and end of each school year—this semester from Aug. 28 until Sept. 8—OAP showcases more than 25 small bands and DJs. OAP is[Read More…]