Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States, faced off against current Vice President Mike Pence in the vice-presidential debate on Oct. 7. Harris is a woman of colour and the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants. When facing constant interruptions from her Republican counterpart, Harris[Read More…]
Search Results for author "Sepideh Afshar"
McGill students start fund for Lebanese students affected by the Beirut explosion
On Sept. 16, McGill students started the Lebanese Student Relief Fund to support Lebanese students whose access to education has been restricted by the Aug. 4 explosion in Beirut, which killed at least 200 people and injured thousands more. The blast not only severely damaged health infrastructure but also exacerbated[Read More…]
SSMU’s partnership with Amazon disregards student concerns
The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) recently announced a partnership deal with Amazon, which included a promotional code for students, in a now-deleted post on their Instagram. The student union faced backlash from students, with many questioning the ethics of a collaboration with a corporation known for exploiting its[Read More…]
BIPOC voices will no longer be silenced
On Aug. 29, protestors toppled a statue of John A. Macdonald in Montreal. Besides serving as Canada’s first prime minister, Macdonald is infamously known as the creator of the residential school system and as someone who starved Indigenous groups to forcibly relocate them. Macdonald’s treatment of Indigenous Peoples was reconsitiuted[Read More…]
Erased by the administration: James McGill was a slave owner
Although McGill takes superficial strides toward inclusivity such as participating in a Black History Month and Indigenous Awareness Weeks, the university still refuses to address its colonial history and practices. The history of this university is intertwined with racism and the enslavement of Black and Indigenous individuals—a fact that must[Read More…]
Protesting from positions of privilege
McGill announced that they will refuse to divest from the fossil fuel industry for the third time on Jan. 8. Gregory Mikkelson, a professor in the School of Environment and Department of Philosophy at McGill, resigned as a result of the school’s continued investment in coal, oil, and gas companies.[Read More…]
World War III memes need to stop
The political turmoil between Iran and the US has created fears for many members of the McGill community. These range from direct impacts on their families in the Middle East to smaller things, such as increased surveillance at airports or train stations. McGill meme pages have been posting jokes about[Read More…]
The lecture hall: The space where my two cultures met
I was born in Iran, but my family and I moved to Canada when I was four-years-old. Although Farsi was my first language, English quickly became my dominant one and, even though I was surrounded by Iranian culture at home, at school I was being exposed to a completely different[Read More…]
OSD note-takers are another example of undervalued labour on campus
McGill’s Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) is responsible for facilitating wider access to learning and providing adequate resources for all students. To this end, one of the services offered by the OSD is providing notes for students who may be unable to take their own. Note-takers are tasked with[Read More…]
Bill 21: Impractical on paper and in practice
Bill 21, a law enacted by the Quebec government that prohibits public sector employees from wearing visible religious symbols, caused public outrage by disproportionately affecting religious minorities such as Muslims, Jews, and Sikhs. Introduced this past May, there was no shortage of speculation concerning how problematic the implementation of this[Read More…]
