Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) President Dymetri Taylor and McGill’s Interim Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Angela Campbell announced on Sept. 4, via joint email statement, that SSMU and McGill have negotiated a new Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) after a summer of mediation.

The mediation process followed Campbell’s April 2025 email announcement that McGill intended to terminate its existing MoA with SSMU. In this email, Campbell denounced the student union’s strike for Palestine from April 2-4, 2025—specifically, strike demonstrations that successfully cancelled dozens of classes. 

The Sept. 4 update confirmed that McGill and SSMU’s MoA remains in effect after the parties made revisions during mediation “to reach an agreement that puts students first.” Taylor and Campbell outlined that the University Centre will now host McGill as well as SSMU initiatives; if McGill had terminated the MoA, SSMU would have lost access to the Centre, leading to the closure of many student gathering spaces. Furthermore, the email affirmed that SSMU-funded student organizations will continue to operate.

Additionally, Taylor and Campbell rebuked specific forms of protest, while declaring SSMU and McGill’s shared commitment to “expression and peaceful assembly.” The statement also reported that McGill has removed some, but not all, MoA sections that dictate which students can run for SSMU elections.

In a written statement to The Tribune, Taylor explained how the union may aim to address future SSMU-McGill MoA disputes to best honour SSMU’s constituents.

“One of the plans for this year is to institute a process so that things of this nature, when there is a major disagreement, don’t simply result in a notice of termination of the MoA,” Taylor wrote. “A better method of termination is necessary for the agreement to ensure that when there are disagreements of a political nature, the rights of the students and the Society are protected.”

Taylor also expressed the mutual advantages of upholding the SSMU-McGill MoA.

“[Under the MoA], SSMU receives substantial benefits, chief amongst them being the [University Centre],” Taylor wrote. “However, it would be foolish to think that McGill does not benefit from this agreement, as without it, the University would suffer significant reputational harm.”

McGill’s Media Relations Office did not respond to The Tribune’s request for comment.