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Hockey, Sports

Chilled rivalry: Martlets Hockey fall to Italian National Team in pre-Olympic exhibition

by Lialah Mavani on

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The Martlets finished the first half of their season ranked fourth in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ), with six of their games going to overtime. On Jan. 8, McGill’s Martlets Hockey returned to McConnell Arena for their first game since Nov. 30. The team’s homecoming was marked by stiff competition against the Italian National Team, who are wrapping up their final weeks of pre-Olympic training in Montreal.

Goalie Megane Pilon, U1 Science, told The Tribune that the game was an important opportunity for the Martlets to measure themselves against an Olympic-level team and challenge themselves to play hard and give their best effort.

“It was a great game to get back after Christmas,” Pilon said. “I think we were quite scared because they are much older than us, and we are quite a young team. So we were a little bit apprehensive, but I do think we came out really strong in the first period.”

The Martlets put up a strong fight in the first period, fending off offensive plays from the Italian national team. The team’s persistence paid off, allowing them to keep the score tied 0-0 until the last two minutes and seven seconds of the first period, when Italy’s Justine Reyes scored the first goal of the match, giving Italy a 1-0 lead. The stadium erupted in chants of, “Let’s Go Martlets,” as McGill fans attempted to recentre their players.

The game was more physical than what the Martlets are used to, Pilon explained. It pushed them to respond to the other team’s physicality and battle for every opportunity. 

Forward Anika Cormier, U3 Education, further reinforced Pilon’s beliefs about the team’s strong mentality. 

“We’re a very gritty team, and I think we approach it the exact same way, just work hard, play fast, and play our games. Trust the system,” Cormier said.

While the second and third periods were less favourable for the Martlets, they continued to give their all on the ice. The start of the second period was accompanied by more aggressive offensive plays from the Italian team, forcing the Martlets to play defensively. 

Impressively, the Italian team was able to score even while being shorthanded just six minutes and 41 seconds into the second period. The second goal of the game had fans of both teams excited and hopeful, with fans of the national team waving their Italian flags proudly, while McGill fans continued to cheer on their home team.

The period finished with Italy leading 3-0; it was not just eventful offensively, but also in terms of penalties. The period included two power plays, giving the Martlets a hopeful advantage over the Italians. However, their offensive efforts fell short. The third and final period was the most successful for the Italian team, as they scored four goals in just under 11 minutes, showing their experience over the home favourite. 

The Italian national team remained dominant over the young Martlets; the exhibition also served as a valuable measuring stick for the team. Facing an Olympic-bound team pushed them to match a higher level of speed, strength, and discipline, while reinforcing their grit and resilience. As the Martlets turn their focus back to their regular season games, they will face the Concordia Stingers on Jan. 16. The experience of competing against elite international talent offers new perspectives for the program’s future.

Quotable

“We are just looking to get better every single game, and we had some really good moments in the game. It was just about us lacking a bit of experience. So we’re looking at it from a growth perspective and taking away the positives, learning from the areas that we need to improve on.” –Head Coach Alyssa Cecere on the team’s takeaways and their goals going forward for the season.

Stat Corner

The game had six penalties, two against the Martlets and four against the Italian team. All six penalties were served in the first two periods.  

Moment of the Game

The Martlets faced off against new opponents with some familiar faces. The Italian National Team included former Martlets assistant coach Kayla Tutino and was coached by McGill Redbirds Hockey alumnus, Alexandre Tremblay. 

Commentary, Opinion

New Year, same (institutional) burnout

by Moyọ Alabi on

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January, colloquially known as the month of new beginnings. Planners for the calendar year fill the bookshelves, wellness advice on how to ‘improve’ flood TikTok and Instagram For-You-Pages, and even McGill sends out communications encouraging students to return to campus with better habits and a renewed zest for academia and discipline. 

New Year’s resolutions are often framed as an introspective exercise that positions personal change as both the source and solution to any issue. Nevertheless, self-improvement culture encourages students to internalize burnout as a personal failure, allowing institutions to avoid accountability for the structural conditions that make exhaustion inevitable. In this understanding, stress and fatigue become problems to be corrected individually rather than predictable responses to the collective institutional pressures students are expected to navigate. 

Responsibility for burnout is increasingly individualized within academic environments that normalize constant productivity and self-regulation. Studies consistently show high levels of stress and burnout amongst post-secondary students: Nearly 90 per cent report feeling overwhelmed by their responsibilities, and 66 per cent report overwhelming anxiety—numbers far above what one would expect if stress were simply a ‘personal weakness.’ Research also consistently associates academic stress with diminished well-being, as students who report higher academic pressure also report declining mental health outcomes. 

Although there is a plethora of reputable research proving burnout to be structurally and contextually driven, institutional responses disproportionately emphasize individual behaviour change. A 2023 World Health Organization report identifies burnout as an occupational phenomenon driven by chronic workplace stress, explicitly rejecting framings that solely describe it as a personal medical condition. Despite this, universities respond to stress-related risks by promoting time-management strategies and resilience training, effectively evading their institutional responsibilities to provide support and accessibility to students and staff alike. 

In Canada, one in three students report that mental health resources do not meet their needs due to long wait times and limited availability. Academia on mental health in higher education shows that students are far more likely to be offered coping tools than material accommodations, which further reinforces the idea that distress reflects insufficient self-management. In this, burnout is framed as a failure to adapt to neoliberal demands of efficiency, rather than the manifestation of systemic pressure compounded by inadequate institutional support. 

The institutional benefit of framing burnout as an individual issue is also well documented. A 2022 survey by the American College Health Association found that although over three-quarters of college students reported moderate to high levels of stress, few campuses have made corresponding investments in material support services such as reduced course caps or expanded academic leave. Instead, many institutions offer limited counselling and wellness programs while broader comprehensive structural support remains absent. At McGill, this gap is apparent in the limited accessibility of mental health care: Student reporting shows that appointments at the Wellness Hub can require weeks-long wait times during peak periods such as midterms and final exams. Official university responses continue to emphasize self-help guides and stress-management resources. 

The aforementioned framing is intensified by the timing of the New Year itself. January marks the start of the winter semester, which is characterized by limited daylight and the lingering exhaustion of the fall term and exam period; yet students are expected to return to full productivity almost immediately. While practices of self-discipline and routine can be genuinely supportive at the individual level, they cannot compensate for structural conditions that remain unchanged. Without corresponding reductions in workload or expanded institutional support, self-care risks becoming a means of endurance rather than relief, asking students to adapt indefinitely to environments that continue to demand more than they can reasonably sustain. 
So this January, before reaching for another productivity planner or doom-scrolling through content promising personal transformation, it is worth considering that the problem may not just lie in individual habits, but in a system designed to make them appear as the only thing that can change.

Science & Technology

SciLearn: Learning how to learn

by Antoine Larocque on

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Starting a science degree at McGill can feel overwhelming. Between heavy course loads, fast-paced lectures, and the pressure to perform, many students struggle to find study strategies that work for them. SciLearn, a program run by McGill’s Office of Science Education (OSE), aims to change this.

Grounded in neuroscience, SciLearn supports the growth, well-being, and academic success of undergraduate students by helping them study more effectively.  

“We try to provide [first-year undergraduates] with some skills that can enable them to feel well and to be successful in their first year,” Cyrille Mvomo, a PhD student and Science Education fellow at OSE, said in an interview with The Tribune.

The program’s innovative approach has gained international recognition, earning a bronze QS Reimagine Education Award for its application of neuroscience learning.

One of SciLearn’s central initiatives, SciLearn Peer Collaboration, operates a collaborative learning space on weekdays from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the Burnside Hall basement, room 1B23. There, teaching assistants and undergraduate peer mentors assist students as they study together. The workspace hosts course-specific study sessions for a selection of 100 and 200-level science courses. Students can work on assignments, prepare for exams, ask questions, or simply take a break in between study sessions. Although SciLearn is housed within the Faculty of Science, students from other faculties enrolled in first-year science courses are also welcome.

“We want everyone to come,” Kira Smith, Student Engagement and Learning manager at OSE, told The Tribune. “Part of the network that we establish between students means that the students who […] understand the concept can support their fellow peers in developing that same understanding and learn as they are teaching their peers [….] It is [a program] that builds on everyone’s strengths.”

According to a survey conducted by OSE researchers, between 85 and 90 per cent of students reported that SciLearn Peer Collaboration prepared them for their assessments, improved their understanding of class material, and provided a centralized space to study multiple courses.

Beyond SciLearn Peer Collaboration, SciLearn organizes events, such as workshops that explore the neuroscience of learning, memory, attention, and motivation. Through a combination of guest lectures, study groups and other events, SciLearn helps students understand how the brain retains information and applies the knowledge to improve their study practices.

SciLearn also collaborates with instructors in select science courses to deliver guest lectures which introduce students to neuroscience-informed learning strategies.

“In our events, we realized that some of the students had some misconceptions about the neuroscience of learning that could prevent them from optimizing their learning performance,” Mvomo said. “For example, [people think] they are a visual learner, they are an auditory learner, and they cannot learn in any other way [….] After attending our events, these kinds of misconceptions are decreasing.”

As advice to first-year students, Mvomo cautions against cramming before exams, noting that it does not support long-term retention of information. He also encourages students to remain open-minded about academic support programs and workshops, even those that may initially seem unnecessary.

Smith echoed this message and also emphasized the importance of self-compassion.

“Remember that you are a person first, then you are a student, and then you are a club member or executive, etc.,” Smith said. “[Be] gentle with yourself and [lean] on the supports that exist for you [.…] Once you have identified these community members who […] want to help, lean on them, because it makes us feel good to help you, too.”

The SciLearn program will continue to evolve, with upcoming initiatives including discussions on artificial intelligence in learning, an expansion of guest lectures, independent study group sessions, and plans to secure a larger space to broaden services.

Altogether, SciLearn aims to provide science students with practical tools, evidence-based learning strategies, and supportive spaces designed to help them thrive at McGill and beyond.

“It is a program that just wants students to succeed, and we are doing everything that we can to do that, including giving them free snacks,” Smith said.

Arts & Entertainment, Film and TV, Private

‘Heated Rivalry’ reminds everyone to be brave enough to pursue love 

by Bianca Sugunasiri on

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Warning: This piece contains spoilers.

Love is dichotomously the simplest and most complicated thing that befalls us; both your first breath of fresh air and a crushing weight on your lungs form its delicate balance. Heated Rivalry has done a wonderful job in revealing all of love’s shifting forms: The heartbreak, the yearning, and the comfort. Beyond hockey, Montreal, and Boston, the show tells the story of two men learning to love each other. 

You’ve likely encountered the Crave series that’s been taking the Internet by storm, whether through your love of the sport, nationalistic pride for our snowy country, or the viral McGill namedrop. With only six episodes filmed across Ontario and Quebec in, reportedly, only 37 days, the show has rivalled the much-anticipated Season 5 of Stranger Things in popularity.

So why is Heated Rivalry such a sensation? Perhaps because every character reaches into your chest and settles there, leaving you no choice but to become an active companion in their journey. The characters are so disastrously human, burdened with messy choices and regrets, fumbling their way to happiness, that you find yourself both heartbroken for their struggles and rooting for their success. This is not a show you watch passively: You become complicit in every embrace and argument. This effect is only made possible thanks to the sheer quality of the acting. 

Canadian actor Hudson Williams (who plays Shane Hollander) cultivates a hesitant yet earnest image of the Montreal Metros star through his delivery and body language. He deliberately represents Shane’s autism without stereotypicality, conveying authenticity and sincerity of heart, turning him into a fan-favourite for viewers who each find a shred of relatability in his story.  

Williams’ acting is rivalled only by Connor Storrie’s portrayal of Boston Raiders player Ilya Rozanov, which he delivers with such lamenting grace that I still remain stunned. Storrie mastered both the Russian language and accent, leaving viewers flabbergasted at his natural American lilt. Ilya’s character is one imbued with torment as he struggles to reconcile his growing affections for Shane with the rigidity of his Russian family, while Shane seeks love curiously and openly. Storrie’s facial control completely transforms Ilya from scene to scene, his eyes filling with gentle adoration at one moment and hardening into daggers at the next. This fluidity of character enables a tumultuous relationship with both Shane and the audience. 

The chemistry between Storrie and Williams is undeniable, displayed both through physical intimacy and the brief glances exchanged between them. Observing the actors in interviews makes it crystal clear that they have forged a beautiful warmth for one another. 

Not to be overlooked is the work of Canadian actors François Arnaud (Scott Hunter) and Robbie Graham-Kuntz (Kip Grady). Scott and Kip emerge as a secondary romantic entanglement in episode 3, the resulting hour becoming a masterpiece all on its own. They navigate their own struggle of “right person, wrong time,” straining their relationship. Everything is right, but Scott isn’t ready to come out publicly, and Kip can’t keep being pulled back into the closet. Both actors work synergistically to create a memorable relationship that enamours viewers, making their hardship all the more devastating. Their chemistry skyrockets in episode 5 with a globally public coming-out kiss that inspires the main protagonists. 

The true magic of Heated Rivalry lies in its impact on audiences. In an interview with SiriusXM, Williams revealed that numerous closeted athletes have anonymously reached out to him, expressing their gratitude for the show. 

“This is a fun show, and it’s celebratory, but also sometimes it’s just hitting people right in the nerve,” Williams said. 

This show is a moment of representation, a hand reaching out to anyone who might feel alone or afraid. It encourages everyone, regardless of who you are or who you love, to never stop reaching for connection. 

Behind the Bench, Sports

NHL players are back at the Olympics after a 12-year ban

by Ivanna Zhang on

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The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games are just under a month away. Featuring approximately 2,900 athletes across 116 events, the Winter Games is one of the biggest sporting events in the world. Despite its importance and popularity, the National Hockey League (NHL) has denied its players the opportunity to participate in the tournament for over a decade. The Milano Cortina Games will end a 12-year hiatus of NHL players’ participation in the Olympics, the last involvement having been in Sochi 2014. 

The men’s hockey event was featured in the first-ever Winter Olympics in 1924. According to Olympics founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the Olympics were intended for amateurs; therefore,  NHL players’ professional status prohibited them from competition. In 1992, however, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) abolished the amateur rule. Still, it was not until the 1998 Nagano Games that NHL players were allowed to compete. 

After sending their players to five straight Olympics, from 1998 to 2014, the NHL banned its players again in the 2018 and 2022 Winter Games. The NHL and IOC struggled to reach an agreement due to cost coverage issues and the timing of the games. In 2017, the IOC announced it would no longer cover NHL players’ accommodations, insurance, or travel expenses, citing that it does not provide similar funding for athletes from other major professional leagues, such as the National Basketball Association (NBA). The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) offered $20 million USD to cover the costs; nevertheless, the efforts to convince the NHL were unsuccessful. 

146 players from the league will compete in Milan this year, with at least one player from each of the 32 NHL teams. Widely considered the largest hockey league in the world, the ban negatively impacted the viewership and entertainment value of the Winter Games, as some of the world’s best hockey players are unable to compete. For example, the Team USA roster for Milan is made up solely of 25 NHL players. For Beijing 2022, the ban from the NHL forced the U.S. to resort to a team of mostly college students from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), mounting a short run to the quarterfinals.

This 12-year ban fueled growing frustration among NHL players eager to represent their respective countries. In July 2025, an agreement was reached among the IOC, IIHF, NHL, and the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA), allowing players to compete in 2026 and 2030. However, controversies remain due to the delayed construction schedule and the size of Milan’s Olympic ice rink.

Despite being less than a month away from the first puck drop, the rinks are scheduled to be ready on Feb. 2, just three days before the women’s tournament and nine days before the men’s. The primary issue, however, is the dimension of the rink. The initial agreement between the four parties was that the ice rink would be built to NHL specifications: 200 feet long and 85 feet wide. However, the Olympic rink has been constructed as 196.85 feet long and 85.3 feet wide, more than three feet shorter and a few inches wider than promised. 

A shorter ice rink means a shorter neutral zone, hindering players’ ability to gain speed in offence, which can increase physicality and encourage aggressive defensive strategies. NHL Commissioner Bill Daly said in an interview with The Athletic  that the players will not participate if the conditions are deemed unsafe. Daly’s comments also highlight the significant power the NHL holds within Olympic hockey. Because the league controls access to the world’s top players, it can negotiate or withhold participation based on safety conditions. This leverage allows the NHL to advocate for safer playing environments, benefiting not only NHL athletes but all players participating in the event. 

Despite this, there have been no official reports of safety concerns, and the stadium is set to finish on time. Although players expressed that the smaller rink size would change the game, reactions about NHL players’ participation have been overwhelmingly positive. After more than a decade away from Olympic competition, many athletes are eager for the opportunity to represent their countries on the world’s biggest stage.

Montreal, News

Quebec introduces new standardized formula for calculating rent increases

by Eren Atac on

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The Quebec government introduced a new method for calculating rent on Jan. 1. The new method relies on the average consumer price index (CPI) over the past three years to calculate rent, rather than landlords’ individual operating costs. As part of the new system, the government also introduced a fixed five per cent threshold to allow landlords to recover money spent on major operations. 

Under the prior system, rent increases were calculated based on a landlord’s expenses, such as maintenance, taxes, and insurance. Landlords had to justify these costs when proposing a rent increase. Tenants could request to see the calculation, and if they disagreed, dispute the increase with the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL). Under the new system, rent increases are calculated using a standardized formula tied to inflation, measured by the CPI, a government statistic that tracks changes in the costs of goods and services over time. 

The changes were implemented with the goal of making rent increases more transparent and predictable for tenants and landlords. However, tenant advocates have criticized the new rules as unfair to renters, as rent increases are now harder to challenge. Since the calculation no longer relies on itemized operating costs specific to each building, tenants have fewer concrete figures to dispute when challenging an increase before the TAL. 

In an interview with The Tribune, Milton Park Citizens’ Committee President and McGill Course Lecturer Garrfield Du Couturier-Nichol criticized the new rent system for reinforcing an unequal power imbalance between landlords and tenants.

“Landlords now have reached a point where if you don’t accept what they offer, what they want, they immediately say, ‘Okay, I’m taking you to the rent board.’ That scares students, it scares seniors, and it scares low-income people,” Du Couturier-Nichol said. “Now, in my own particular case, my landlord, over the last two years, not counting this year, got a $100 [CAD] increase, and pensions certainly did not go up to more than two per cent. This year she’s asking for an $80 [CAD]-a-month increase.”

Under the new rules, landlords can recover the cost of major renovations more quickly, with rent increases tied to a fixed five per cent annual threshold for capital expenditures. 

As a low-income demographic, students are often disproportionately affected by rent increases. Ossian Dalgiesh, U1 Arts, raised concerns in an interview with The Tribune about how renovation work may affect rents under the new five per cent threshold.

“As a student, rent is already expensive enough for me,” Dalgiesh said. “My landlord has been doing a lot of construction in the building. The construction kind of seems meaningless, and it’s disruptive to everybody else in the building. Now it makes me wonder if there’s another purpose behind all of the work that he decided to start doing.”

Wyatt Hogan, U1 Engineering, said in an interview with The Tribune that, while the recent changes make rent increases more predictable, tenants still need ways to contest them.

“For people who have tighter budget constraints, it would be much more challenging, because they would have to go through the process of finding a new place if the rent increases too much,” Hogan explained. “Predictability-wise, it would be nice to have some way you can expect [how much rent will increase] in the future […] but I feel there should be more flexibility for the tenants to fight back.”

Du Couturier-Nichol suggested that the new system disproportionately affects vulnerable groups, including students and seniors, by limiting tenants’ agency.


“Housing is a human right that is guaranteed under the Charter of the United Nations. If Quebec is not going to live up to that, then that doesn’t say very much for [the province], particularly in the case of seniors and students,” Du Couturier-Nichol said. “These are the two vulnerable groups. Students are studying. Many of them have a part-time job. Seniors can’t work. And I think that’s the problem. What are you going to do when the rent goes up eight or 10 per cent?”

McGill, News, Recap

Recap: Students and professors adjust to a new semester with dwindling TAships 

by Kaitlyn Schramm on

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With the commencement of the Winter term, students and professors alike have attempted to adjust to an education with a lack of teaching assistant (TA) positions. Many courses in the Faculty of Arts that previously had at least one TA now have none, and professors have adapted to leading in-class conferences with anywhere from 40 to 80 students. Following the Quebec government’s changes to tuition policy, McGill has had to restructure its budgeting drastically throughout the 2025-2026 school year. 

In a written statement to The Tribune, McGill’s Media Relations Office (MRO) emphasized the university’s continued commitment to providing excellence in education despite growing budget constraints. 

“As is the case for many postsecondary institutions, McGill has had to make difficult decisions to balance its budget this year,” the MRO wrote. “McGill is working closely with its faculties to ensure it continues to meet its high standards of excellence while preserving the long-term financial stability of the University.”

The university itself does not set a budget for TAs; rather, each faculty decides the number of TAships based on its individual budget. The Faculty of Arts, McGill’s largest faculty, has committed to reducing TAships by 17 per cent, moving TAs to other positions or cutting their hours. 

Political Science Professor Narendra Subramanian reported that his courses have undergone significant changes since McGill readjusted TA hiring. Two of Subramanian’s 400-level courses, previously capped at 80 students, were reduced to a cap of 50 students. These courses also had one TA each but now do not. Subramanian has thus had to reorganize the way he conducts his lectures in order to optimize student learning without the assistance of graduate employees. 

Subramanian further explained how the cut to TA positions has affected lecture time. 

“[It has] crucially [affected class]. [T]here are no conferences with about 20 students each where it is easier for students to speak,” Subramanian wrote. “I have to conduct these classes as an uneasy mix of lecture and discussion, which gives many shier students little effective room to speak/raise questions.” 

Additionally, Subramanian mentioned the shift in assignment structure due to the loss of grading support, with many professors inclined to assign less time-consuming exercises or digital assignments rather than handwritten ones.

Arts & Entertainment, Music, Pop Rhetoric

2026: The Year of Olivia Dean

by Alexandra Lasser on

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When looking at the upcoming year of music, one name comes to mind in terms of dominating the charts: British singer-songwriter Olivia Dean. Dean has been steadily producing music and growing her following since her 2018 debut; however, it wasn’t until 2025 that she was welcomed into the mainstream. She broke into the Billboard 200 albums chart with The Art of Loving, released in September 2025. Her single, “Man I Need,” gained traction on TikTok, with over 1.6 million videos having been posted to the sound, propelling the song to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. 

The song’s virality introduced many new listeners to her unique style.“Man I Need” incorporates elements of soul and gospel chords over a swinging rhythm, putting a spin on traditional pop melodies. Her smooth, inviting voice sings romantic verses that speak of crushes and the desperate hope that comes with them. Her ability to blend a diverse array of genres is perhaps what elevated her to the top of a scene oversaturated with repetitive harmonies and chords. The silky quality of her voice lends an intimacy to this breezy pop hit, setting the song apart from other, often shallow, hits. 

In an age where trendy stars burn brightly only to be forgotten in a week, Olivia Dean has only strengthened her foothold in the industry since blowing up. She performed as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live in November, which helped promote her album beyond the hit single. She sang “Let Alone The One You Love,” which not only displayed the depth and power in her voice belied by the playful verses of “Man I Need” but also expressed more vulnerability through her discussion of shame and heartbreak, demonstrating the breadth of her artistry. Dressed in a long pink gown with her hair styled in classic Hollywood waves, she created a visual connection to an older era of pop that often resonates in her music. 

Dean’s ability to maintain relevance past virality is no accident. Although she has only recently reached such a large audience, she was named Amazon Music’s Breakthrough Artist of the Year in 2021. Her incremental rise to fame over the past few years set the stage for the staggering success of The Art of Loving. Her ongoing success is a natural result of years of working and developing as an artist rather than a simple stroke of good luck. 

This year, Dean will embark on an international tour, with several dates already sold out. In the midst of tickets dropping, she spoke out in defence of her fans against ticketing companies that allowed resale tickets to exceed $700 CAD. She set herself apart from profit-seeking artists who have done nothing to prevent unreasonable ticket prices by fighting to keep her concerts affordable for average fans. 
The first week of January saw her album ascend to number four on the Billboard 200 albums chart, and “Man I Need” reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Pop Airplay chart. She currently has over 58 million monthly listeners on Spotify and is sure to amass more, as her upcoming tour will reach global audiences. The continued popularity of her music past her short-lived virality and months after the album’s release demonstrates how incremental growth prepares artists to take advantage of their moment and display their years of gruelling work, thus ensuring long-lasting success, not just in 2026, but in the years to come as well.

McGill, News

Students and faculty discuss academic calendar and winter break duration

by Asher Kui on

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McGill’s Winter 2026 Semester officially started on Jan. 5, giving McGill students a two-week-long winter break. Compared to other Montreal universities such as Concordia University and Université de Montréal, McGill students receive one week fewer of winter holidays. Other Canadian universities, such as the University of Ottawa, also resume classes a week after McGill, leaving some McGill students to question the reason for this discrepancy between McGill and other schools.

In a written statement to The Tribune, McGill’s Media Relations Office (MRO) explained that the academic calendar must follow the Guidelines Regarding the Setting of the University Calendar of Academic Dates.

“McGill’s academic calendars, which are approved at least two years in advance, are reviewed judiciously and respect several key priorities,” the MRO wrote. “These include, among others, ensuring student well-being, two full 13-week terms, minimum examination periods, and the provision of a Reading Break in both the Fall and Winter terms.”

The guidelines also mandate that McGill’s academic calendar include a one-day or weekend study break, separating the end of classes and the first day of exams. Overall, there must be at least 130 teaching days over the combined Fall and Winter terms.

In an email exchange with The Tribune, the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Vice President of University Affairs Susan Aloudat reaffirmed that McGill’s current academic calendar reflects a set of accommodations that students have advocated for, including an earlier winter exam season and a week-long Reading Break.

“McGill’s academic calendar starts earlier than other universities in the province to allow for an earlier exam season,” Aloudat said. “[This] also gives [professors] almost the entire month of May to prepare grades for May graduation, as well as to accommodate the spring break.”

Fall 2021 saw McGill University implement a two-day extension to Thanksgiving weekend for the first time. Fall 2024 was the first semester to see a week-long Reading Break. Such changes, in addition to McGill’s mandate for full 13-week terms, often create complications for scheduling academic calendars as well as student engagement activities. Nonetheless, the MRO assured that maintaining a student democracy remains a top priority in McGill’s decision-making.

“[McGill’s decision] was done in close collaboration with students and student leadership,” the MRO wrote. “[It follows] a careful assessment of the impact on the academic year, with student well-being being a key factor [….] McGill welcomes student feedback on its academic calendar.”

While some students expressed dissatisfaction with the comparatively short duration of winter break, Aloudat underscored that many other students prioritize mid-semester breaks over a lengthy winter break.

“Students are the ones who advocated for Reading Break to be the entire week instead of the initial couple of days,” she wrote. “I imagine this demonstrated that having an entire week of break in the middle of each semester is important to the students, which is why the academic calendar is distributed the way it is by McGill.”

In an email to The Tribune, Chloé Muñoz, Arts and Science senator, expressed that although McGill has a comparatively shorter winter break than other universities, the calendar allows her to stay focused in the winter semester.

“As a student, […] I quite enjoy the length of the break we have,” she wrote. “I know this is not an opinion shared by the majority of students but I find that after an approximately [two-week] break, I come back rested but not fully detached from school.”

She also mentioned that McGill’s academic calendar allows for a longer summer break, which may be beneficial to many students wanting to explore opportunities outside of the university.

“Starting earlier [allows us to] have a longer overall ‘summer time,’” she explained. “This time ends up being [the] length of a typical semester, allowing students to have more time in internships, taking classes, and exploring things outside of the direct boundaries of our academic lives.”

Off the Board, Opinion

When we dance, we make the world a little lighter

by Jenna Durante on

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The room is already breathing before you are. Bass thunders through your ribs as neon lights beam across moving bodies. By the second song, you are no longer dancing in a crowd so much as being embraced by it. Sweat soaks through your shirt. Hair sticks to your face. Strangers grab your hands as the surge pushes everyone forward, laughing when you almost lose your footing together. You smile at people whose names you’ll never know, and move in unison to a rhythm that belongs to everyone all at once. 

It feels reckless, surrendering yourself to the beat of the music; letting dance take the lead in a culture where any misstep can be filmed and archived on our screens. But it feels beautiful, too. For the first time in years, movement is shaping how pop culture feels, and it’s restoring a kind of connection we forgot we needed. 

Across generations, dance has proved to be one of the most resilient art forms. During the COVID-19 pandemic, our connections were limited to virtual hangouts and meetups. Turning to our phones for entertainment, TikTok made choreography accessible in the most intimate way possible. You could learn simple routines in your kitchen in a matter of seconds. Thousands of people practiced the same counts in isolation, connected online when physical proximity was impossible. 

After so long without these connections, dance has become one of the most human ways to find ourselves and each other again.

As our world reopened, that muscle memory carried back into public life, building on a lineage from long before social media’s takeoff. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, Michael Jackson transformed movement into spectacle, bending expectation and gravity with every beat. In the early 2000s, Lady Gaga made choreography pop’s central language, teaching a generation to rehearse confidence in bedroom mirrors. Today, artists like Tate McRae carry that energy forward, blending pop and dance into songs meant to make you move. Tyler, the Creator took it further with Don’t Tap the Glass, a dance record built for movement, where he explicitly tells listeners not to sit still. 

The resurgence of this fearlessness extends further, reviving the spirit of the MTV era. Jungle’s vibrant music videos—especially the now iconic Back on 74—put dancers into larger-than-life hip-hop and jazz funk numbers, releasing raw, expressive energy onto the screen. Their choreography spills outward, arms flung wide, strangers pulled into motion until their joy feels contagious. Even recent dance-forward films such as La La Land and West Side Story (2021) remind audiences that movement can carry narrative just as powerfully as dialogue.

Dance offers so much more than entertainment. It’s the heat rising behind your sternum, the moment your lungs burn and your mind goes quiet. It’s embarrassment dissolving mid-pirouette, replaced by laughter you cannot control. When you dance, you stop protecting your ego. You loosen. You synchronize with music and let everything go, and for a moment, nothing else matters. 

Our appetite for dance is driven by its strength to create bonds across genres and cultures. Disco served as a refuge for Black and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities when they were refused the space to live proudly. Punk offered its own edgy style, where headbanging and mosh pits became collective acts of love and DIY spirit. Even ballet, for all its discipline, shares a sense of connection—bodies learning to move count by count, beat by beat, through the same story together.

Yet dance becomes most powerful when it breaks free from form. Beyond choreography and technique, it is imagination that makes movement so special. In a world that so often teaches us to shrink—to curate, to monitor, to disappear behind screens—choosing to dance becomes an act of radical self-expression. And when we dance together, we become part of a body larger than our own. Dance is not just expressing who you are; it reminds you that you are not alone.

So dance while you’re getting ready in the morning, on your walk to class, in the shower, or even while brushing your teeth. Move because it feels good, because it lifts your chest and loosens your shoulders. Move because your body needs to. Because when we dance, we make the world a little lighter.

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