On May 8, Interim Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) Angela Campbell emailed graduating students that they must pay $25 CAD to bring two guests to the Tomlinson Fieldhouse Spring 2025 Convocation ceremonies. This update, along with ceremony timing changes, sparked outrage amongst attendees, who expected the four free guest tickets and Lower Field graduations that McGill has historically provided. Students whose guests had already booked travel to Montreal scrambled to obtain extra tickets.
The next day, Campbell sent another email to affected students, announcing that McGill would waive ticket costs and reinstate the four guest allowance. Campbell also acknowledged the university could have managed Convocation planning “more effectively.”
Henry Olsen, a Spring 2025 Faculty of Arts graduate, called McGill’s initial decision to charge students for guests “money farming” in a written statement to The Tribune.
“Even when [McGill] had to rent out the Bell Centre [in 2024], a building they didn’t even own, the [graduation] tickets were free!” Olsen wrote. “It’s obvious they’re trying to fix their financial books.”
In a written statement to The Tribune, the McGill Media Relations Office (MRO) explained why Convocation was not held on the Lower Field.
“The decision to hold Convocation at the Fieldhouse in Spring 2025 was made after considering a number of elements, including the significant construction work underway on campus,” the MRO wrote.
Olsen posited that McGill only reversed changes to Spring Convocation when some incoming alumni pledged to withhold future university donations.
“It’s only when the brand name ‘McGill’ is hurt by publications of their incompetency […] that they change,” Olsen wrote.
An upcoming McGill graduate who wished to remain unnamed shared in a written statement to The Tribune how disappointing they found McGill’s renewed decision to charge students for guests at Fall 2025 Convocation, held at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.
“In light of the reaction for the Spring Convocation, this feels like a slap in the face,” the student wrote.
