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Album Reviews, Arts & Entertainment, Music

Chai’s ‘PUNK’ is the much-needed antidote to the drudgery of our daily lives

by Katia Innes on

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There is a tragically narrow vision of what contemporary East Asian music should sound like. Often lumped into vague, generalized categories such as ‘J-Pop’ or ‘K-Pop,’ Western critics have a tendency to consider the ethnic groupings of Asian musical production first and foremost, often obscuring the lyrical and technical aspects that make up the specificities of genre. Thankfully, Chai has emerged, the self-proclaimed “new-exciting onna band,” also known as “new exciting women band” or NEO, for short. Chai has taken it upon themselves to helm a new style dubbed ‘neo-kawaii’ that boldly proclaims that everything and everybody can be cute. On Chai’s second album, the wonderfully joyous PUNK, the band proudly embraces Japanese music, and the album’s musical diversity and merit resist tokenization by Western audiences and critics.

PUNK stands apart from this year’s releases, largely due to its blending of diverse inspirations into a brand new concoction. Chai’s sound borrows from British electronica, Japanese pop, and American rap, making for a unique hybrid that results in an energized, retro-futurist aesthetic best heard on the album’s opener “CHOOSE GO!” Lyrics, written in both Japanese and English, are punctuated with exclamation points, and sound as though they were written in all-caps, creating a singular listening experience.

These bubble-gum sweet affirmations of self-worth match Chai’s eclectic musical sensibilities and proudly redefine normative conceptions of Japanese kawaii culture and femininity.

“Curly Adventure” humorously addresses Japanese beauty standards, and features twin sisters and lead vocalists Mana and Kana embracing their frizzy hair and proclaiming “CURLY HAIR / It is GREAT.” By rejecting the expectations propagated by a massively influential national beauty industry, Chai boldly reassures listeners that no matter how they choose to present, there is room for them in neo-kawaii culture. Chai just wants to dance with their friends, have fun, and tell each other that they look cute. Is that too much to ask?

“We have dreams! / We have a lot of friends!” the four-piece band chants on “Future,” which, given a less enthusiastic delivery, could easily sound insincere, but Chai’s relentless positivity cracks even the most reluctant of smiles. Perhaps PUNK is exactly what pop music needs right now: Pure, unashamed enthusiasm and positivity.

 

Basketball, Martlets, Men's Varsity, Sports

McGill basketball 2018-19 season recap

by Miya Keilin on

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On Feb. 27, the 2018-19 McGill basketball season drew to a close. The men (9-7) lost at home to the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Citadins (8-8) 79-69 in the RSEQ semifinals, and, in their semifinal game, the Martlets (10-6), who travelled across town to Concordia’s (10-6) home court, were defeated 62-55. Despite the first-round exits for both teams, McGill basketball had plenty to be proud of this season.  

Martlets

Fourth-year transfer centre Sirah Diarra and fourth-year guard Gladys Hakizimana led Martlet basketball to a respectable third-place finish in the RSEQ. Six-foot-one Diarra averaged 10.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, while Hakizimana put up 11.2 points and 2.7 assists per game, and both were named RSEQ second-team all-stars for their efforts. Other RSEQ award winners include first-year forward Shayann Laguerre and first-year guard Trishia Villedrouin, who both received all-rookie honours.

In the last game of the regular season, the Martlets took down a talented and, at the time, undefeated Laval side for their 12th victory of the season. With a few lopsided losses against the Rouge et Or throughout the season, the Martlets’ momentous win was an exciting way to end the regular season. Unfortunately, the momentum did not carry them past Concordia in the opening round of the RSEQ playoffs and they did not qualify to return to the U Sports National Championships.

In addition to strong campaigns from their veterans this season, Martlet Head Coach Ryan Thorne saw plenty of promising play from many of the team’s younger players: Second-year guard Charlotte Clayton made a team-best 42 three-pointers in her 25 games; fellow second-year forward Kamsi Ogbudibe trailed only Diarra in rebounds and blocks per game; and second-year transfer guard Delphine Robitaille put up strong offensive numbers as well. Along with award-winners Laguerre and Villedrouin, the young Martlet players gave fans good reason to be optimistic for the next season.

Men’s Varsity

The men’s season kicked off in early August with a series of games against American schools, including Duke University. McGill did not come away with any wins in these opening matches, but they scored the most points of any opponent on Duke’s Canada tour. It looked like an encouraging sign for the season to come.  

McGill won their regular season home-opener against UQAM and went on to split the season series with the Citadins 2-2. Unfortunately, they lost fifth-year point guard Alex Paquin and fourth-year point guard Isaiah Cummins, two consistently dominant offensive threats, to injuries for most of the season. However, McGill still managed a 9-7 conference record, which earned them second place in the RSEQ standings behind Concordia (11-5) and home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs against UQAM. In their fifth matchup of the season, the Citadins came out victorious and McGill failed to return to the U Sports National Championships.

Four McGill players earned RSEQ honours. Fifth-year guard Avery Cadogan, who averaged 9.8 points per game, was named a first-team all-star, while fifth-year forward Noah Daoust, a strong two-way presence for McGill all season, was selected as a second team all-star. Fourth-year transfer forward Levi Londole averaged a team-high 5.2 rebounds per game and 19 total blocks en route to the Defensive Player of the Year award. First-year guard Anthony Fisiru was named to the all-rookie team.

Without veteran players Paquin and Cummins, Head Coach David DeAveiro had the opportunity to develop some of his team’s younger talent. Second-year guard Sam Jenkins and second-year transfer point guard J.J. Hamel-Carey, as well as Fisiru, showed potential for the years to come. Though the early playoff exit was disappointing, McGill has a bright future ahead.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Anderson .Paak’s masterful balancing act

by Liam Chung on

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It feels like just yesterday that Anderson .Paak released his long-anticipated Oxnard, a decidedly summery album for the middle of November. The album received mostly positive reviews, although some critics bemoaned its eclectic and aimless nature. Still, .Paak has always had a gift for straddling the line between hip hop and R&B. His breakout album Malibu properly fits the R&B genre, though the work featured verses from prominent rappers like ScHoolboy Q and Rapsody, and .Paak’s hip-hop sensibilities were apparent throughout. Oxnard’s tracks are unmistakably rap songs. In his sophomore album, .Paak returned to the tightly-orchestrated ballads that had previously earned him acclaim, adding more heavily-produced bangers to repertoire. The artist is adept at both styles, but their juxtaposition in the album is jarring to say the least. Oxnard’s lack of direction is the reason that Malibu, while less commercially successful, received more critical acclaim and is still touted as the definitive Anderson .Paak experience.

The wait for a new .Paak album is almost over. On March 14, he tweeted, “Three years between Malibu and Oxnard… you know I couldn’t do that to y’all again.” Attached was an album cover, and the album’s Apr. 12 release date. .Paak also included a handwritten tracklist, which features André 3000, Jazmine Sullivan, and Nate Dogg, the late King of G-Funk. Postmortem features haven’t been well executed by other artists—Michael Jackson’s presence on Drake’s 2018 “Don’t Matter to Me,” for instance, was poorly received to say the least—so fans and critics are on edge to see if .Paak can do something worthwhile with what he’s pulled from Dr. Dre’s vault.

The album cover features a black and white photo of .Paak and a child laying on a bed. Compared to the album covers of Malibu and Oxnard, both cluttered, abstract artworks, Ventura is simpler and much more personal. The album cover hints that Ventura will provide a more intimate listening experience than its predecessors.

In the same tweet, .Paak announced the single “King James.” The song is dedicated to Lebron James, paying respect to the basketball player for his social activism. In the song, he addresses notable social and political issues, such as gun violence. “We couldn’t stand to see our children shot dead in the streets,” he sings. However, he is insistently optimistic, later singing, “Everything they tried to hide, we’re taking back, for yours and mine.”

Though .Paak is no stranger to exploring heavy subject matter with his lyrics, his songs have always maintained a joyful quality. In Malibu’s “The Season / Carry Me” .Paak recalls his childhood spent in poverty and the difficulty he faced in young adulthood trying to make it as a musician while keeping his wife from getting deported. Despite its serious themes, the song is upbeat and accessible. No matter how tragic his words become, the steady beat provides stable support while he gently weaves hope out of sorrow.

With Malibu, .Paak showcased his undeniable charisma in a dreamy album, dedicated to pleasure and love. When Malibu comes on, an hour seems to slide away. Oxnard achieved a different effect entirely: It still oozes charisma, but in a more hedonistic and gaudy way. Despite being weaker than its predecessor, Oxnard remains an accomplished album and melds a variety of influences from hip-hop to R&B to funk. Likewise, in Malibu, .Paak combines lyrical skill and slick beats. Ventura will hopefully meet the high bar set by .Paak’s previous work. Ventura has the potential to be one of the best albums of 2019 now that .Paak has already solidified himself as one of the standout artists of this decade.

 

Art, Arts & Entertainment

Feminist bookstores and social change: A discussion

by Catherine Morrison on

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On Mar. 15, Kristen Hogan, author of The Feminist Bookstore Movement: Lesbian Antiracism and Feminist Accountability, visited McGill to discuss her work as a writer and feminist activist. Part of the Feminist and Accessible Publishing / Communications Technologies Series, Hogan’s discussion focused on the importance of intersectionality, the history of feminist bookstores, and their role in creating space for social change.

Hogan’s talk revolved around three key themes: Power, memory, and strategies of feminist consciousness. These tenets, according to Hogan, are central to understanding the history of feminist bookstores, the ways in which we come to conceive of and respect these institutions, and how communities are shaped by such stores.

Hogan first discussed the theme of power, highlighting how feminist bookstores combat multiple forms of oppression, particularly that of large literary corporations including mainstream bookstores and publishing companies. Describing lesbian anti-racism as a practice, Hogan explained that as a community hub and organization, feminist bookstores strive to understand feminism as a coalition of people struggling under different forms of oppression.

Through an intersectional understanding of oppression as rooted in racism, feminist collectives strive to create a space of support and inclusivity. Hogan also described lesbian anti-racism’s ability to impact literature, as feminist bookstores bring attention to literary content that is too often neglected in mainstream and capitalist distribution of literature.

“Feminist bookstores [stock] their shelves with books that are vital to social justice,” Hogan said. “We all need feminist bookstores’ support for the future of feminist authors, specifically women of colour.”

With regard to memory, Hogan suggested that remembering feminist acts improves one’s ability to understand and participate in social justice initiatives in the future. Most importantly, Hogan explained that the pervasiveness of a feminism that ignores intersectionality affects which stories are shared and which are excluded, resulting in the misremembering of history.

“When people are searching [on search engines] to find out about feminism and to look for resources in their communities, our histories are misremembered by algorithms,” Hogan said. “So, when we think about feminist history, I want us to re-imagine and ask ‘What’s not in this search?’ and really think about who is practicing feminism in our communities.”

Hogan articulated that although we often only think about bookstores as retail spaces, we should instead understand them as spaces that can shape the feminist memory of a community. In describing her concept of “the feminist shelf,” Hogan described how feminist bookstores as the centre of social change.

“The feminist shelf […] is about relationships,” Hogan said. “The idea that the way we gather feminist books together […] changes how we understand each of those books individually, and that changes how we relate to each other. Then, that shapes how we relate with and change the world, change our institutions, change our communities.”

Hogan’s powerful discussion reminded attendees of the importance of feminist bookstores in shaping our environment and our actions. These establishments help engage us with feminism. Hogan’s words allowed for a motivating discussion of the importance of anti-racist feminist action.

Science & Technology

Rare Disease Day at McGill is a rare celebration

by Stephanie Deng on

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Held on the last day of February every year, Rare Disease Day recognizes the impact of over 6,000 rare diseases worldwide. Started in 2008, its advocates celebrate Rare Diseases Day in over 90 countries by raising awareness among health practitioners, policy makers, researchers, and the general public.

Diseases or disorders are considered rare if they affect fewer than one in 2,000 individuals in Europe or fewer than 200,000 individuals at a given time in the USA. One of the challenges healthcare professionals face when diagnosing rare diseases is the fact that different diseases can display similar symptoms. Healthcare professionals start by treating the disease the patient is most likely to have, but that can lead to misdiagnosis and a delay in treatment. As such, Rare Disease Day serves as an intersection between health and social care and promotes the common goal of developing new diagnostic procedures.

“Rare diseases are not spoken about that much in [the McGill Medicine] curriculum,” Cyril Boulila, second-year medical student and cofounder of the rare disease interest group rareDIG, said. “I think it’s a shame because [we need to take the rare disease community] into consideration [….] I have a rare disease. I have severe hemophilia and it really saddened me that we didn’t talk about it during our circulation block in medicine, so it really pushed me even more to being a patient advocate as well as a medical student who has a voice for [the rare disease community].”

In recognition of Rare Disease Day, rareDIG McGill hosted a gathering for rare disease patients as well as those advocating for and treating them. Guest speakers included individuals with uniquely different perspectives and experiences in the realm of rare diseases. Among them were Ian Stedman, a rare disease patient and advocate, and Nada Jabado, a professor in McGill’s Department of Pediatrics and a pediatric hemato-oncologist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital.

“There’s just this massive gap that [rare disease patients] fall into and then they just fall out of the system,” Stedman said.

Diagnosed at age 32 with Muckle-Wells Syndrome, Stedman described his first-hand experience with the difficulties of obtaining a diagnosis. He critiqued the healthcare system for failing to integrate patient data between provinces, which would make it easier to identify rare diseases. Focusing on the importance of data in rare disease diagnostics, Stedman highlighted the promise for machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to be used for online healthcare, as both have the ability to aid scientists in identifying diseases and tracking trends in hospital reports. Large data sets can then be cross-referenced with individual patient symptoms, showcasing the promising role of AI in the future of personal medicine.  

Jabado, known for her work on pediatric brain tumours, presented a physician’s point of view. Her research concentrates on epigenomes—the chemical compounds that turn genes on and off—and led to the discovery of a mutation that is associated with brain development and tumour growth. Her talk illustrated targeted therapies for patients as well as the considerable financial challenges involved.

“It’s true that, oftentimes, we are taught about the most common diseases and we get very little teaching about rare illnesses,” Amanda Try, third-year medical student, said. “I like how [rareDIG is] trying to reach [out to the] community and [recognize how rare disease patients’] experiences can be affected by the way we treat them.”

Science & Technology

Real phones have curves

by Margaret Wdowiak on

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Imagine never having to worry about small pockets again, instead you can just fold your phone over and over until it is a quarter of its original size. New technological advances and insights into graphene could make that future a reality.

Recently, tech giant Samsung unveiled its new foldable phone, the Samsung Galaxy Fold. It features two modes: A folded phone mode with a 4.6-inch screen and an unfolded mode where the device is laid out into a larger 7.3-inch tablet screen. This innovative design will cost consumers $1,980 USD ($2,607 CAD). Meanwhile, the Chinese tech leviathan Huawei, following Samsung’s lead, recently unveiled the Huawei Mate X, which features a 6.6-inch screen on the front as well as a 6.38-inch screen on the back; when unfolded, the two screens form an eight-inch tablet display. This phone has an even more exorbitant price of $2,600 USD ($3,469 CAD).

These new devices have many advantages; most significantly, their flexibility enables customers to double their screen size on a whim and makes the phones less prone to breaking because they are able to bend. The fact that these cellphones double as tablets also increases multitasking and productivity. Unfortunately, there are also many potential limitations associated with this new generation of cellphones.

“Longevity and reliability are among the biggest challenges: how many times can a phone be folded before it begins to fail?” Thomas Szkopek, a professor in McGill’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, wrote in an email to The McGill Tribune. “It is a difficult engineering challenge to create a reliable device.”

As a standard rule, first generation devices and foldable devices are particularly unreliable because they incorporate new, untested software and hardware. Manufacturing is another issue with these products, as mass productions of bendable phones requires new supply chains and manufacturing techniques.

However, if these associated challenges can be overcome, bendable screens have the potential to transform the entire tech industry. A whole new breed of products will be available thanks to this flexible technology, like foldable TVs.

Another new innovation with the same revolutionary potential as bendable phones are graphene phones. Discovered in 2004, graphene is a carbon material constructed by laying out graphite, the same compound used in pencils, into sheets with a thickness of one atom.

Graphene has several advantages over any metal currently used in the phone industry: It conducts electricity better than copper, it is stronger than steel, and it is incredibly elastic. Graphene touch screens printed on plastic could replace screens made of indium tin oxide, making cell phones extremely thin and foldable. Graphene could also make the lithium-ion batteries currently in use longer-lasting, faster-charging, and more bendable. Furthermore, graphene could serve to create cheaper and more sensitive photo sensors.

Unfortunately, despite the incredible potential of the material, graphene also has several important defects, such as susceptibility to oxidative environments. Also, it exhibits some toxic qualities and its electrical conductivity cannot be switched off.

Nonetheless, various fields continue to conduct a great amount of research on this versatile material.

“This invention is now being applied in headphones and mobile electronics’ micro speakers [since] they are more energy efficient and give improved acoustic fidelity,” Szkopek wrote. “Beyond providing us with better acoustics, graphene could also deliver us faster internet, smaller as well as faster transistors, new types of solar panels, and even thinner and stronger condoms.”

Both foldable and graphene phones, despite their great potential, remain relatively untested technologies with an uncertain market base.

Student Life

Five most anxiety-inducing places on campus

by Grace Bahler on

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Although being a student at McGill is already horrifying enough, there are a few places on campus that really exacerbate the feeling of impending doom. For students seeking a thrill after university life has left them emotionally numb, here are some of the scariest spots on campus.

The doorway to the stairs from Redpath to Première Moisson

Not only is this stairwell perpetually grimy, but it is also leads to Première Moisson. There is no way to know who is lurking behind this door or if they are carrying a full cup of hot coffee sans lid. The architect who designed this trap probably did so on purpose.

The stairs between Trottier and Rutherford at Prince Arthur and University

They seem like the proper way to ascend to campus from afar, but, up close, these stairs are a death trap. Not only are they deceivingly short and uneven, as if they came straight from a 2003 video game, but students don’t even get the dignity of falling down these stairs—they fall during their ascent, and that may be the scariest part.

The door to the women’s locker room in the McGill gym  

Swinging doors might be cute in kitchens, but less so when they cause two sweaty people to collide and someone’s nose starts bleeding. Props to McGill for putting a small window in the doors, though, so students at least know when they are about to get whacked.

The basement of the Arts building

First, there’s a Subway—terrifying. Second, there are occasionally amateur improv comedians performing down there—petrifying. Beyond those chilling sights, there are tunnels that go entirely unoccupied and unseen. That screams of a horror movie in the making.  Finally, the ceilings are so inexplicably low that McGill must have constructed them as part of some sort of social experiment determined to uncover what it takes for students to cave into claustrophobia.

The doors in between the Arts building and Dawson Hall  

There is no rational reason to construct such a big, thick piece of wood with absolutely no way of knowing who’s behind it. Political science majors burst through these doors and out of Arts advising appointments like the ‘school is out’ scene in every high school movie.

Hockey, Sports

How the NHL playoff system fails its top teams

by Owen Gibbs on

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Temperatures are rising, and the snow is finally melting, which means two things: Spring is coming, and it is time for the NHL playoffs. Starting in mid-April, the hockey world will direct its attention to North American ice for the next month and a half as 16 teams vie for the Stanley Cup. As always, and perhaps this year more than ever, much of the NHL fan base will complain about how the champion earns its crown.

The NHL playoff structure has been a point of contention for years. The league introduced the current format in 2014 following an over-complicated divisional realignment. Under the current system, the top three teams in each of the NHL’s four divisions make the playoffs along with two wild card teams per division, which are awarded to the two next-best teams in the conference. The top team in each division plays one of its conference’s wildcards while each division’s second and third-seeded teams face each other in the opening round. Barring an upset by one of the wildcards, the top team in each division plays the winner of the two-versus-three series in the second round.

As it stands, the flaw with this system is that it does not account for the strength of the teams within each conference in any given season. As a result, matchups between top teams can take place earlier than they reasonably should, sending strong contenders home before less-deserving teams. The object of a championship should be for the two best teams in a league to meet in the final battle of the season and prove that the winner, alone, constitutes the best team. If one of the top teams is eliminated before the final round because of the current playoff format, the championship series does not truly feature the NHL’s best teams.

The flaw in the playoff format was evident as recently as last year, when the top two teams in the NHL, the Nashville Predators and the Winnipeg Jets, met in the second round. After the Jets won a lopsided two-versus-three matchup against the Minnesota Wild, Winnipeg defeated division rival Nashville in a highly entertaining seven-game series. However, they lost to the expansion franchise Vegas Golden Knights in the Conference Finals due, in part, to exhaustion from the second round. Both the Predators and the Jets were knocked out before the Stanley Cup Final even took place. As of Mar. 15, three of the league’s top six teams are in a position to be eliminated by the end of the second round due to their divisional placement.

Out of fear of history repeating itself, fans, journalists, and players alike have called louder than ever this year to change the format. The most sensible option would be to return to the previous one-versus-eight system. In this scenario, the top team from each conference plays the eighth seed, the second-best plays the seventh, and so on. After each round, the teams matched up anew in their conference based on the same top-versus-bottom principle. Gradually, teams were eliminated until only the best in each conference remained. The NHL used this system with great success from 1993 until 2014, and they would be wise to bring it back.

Unfortunately, the league remains unfazed by widespread calls for change. The NHL introduced the current system to force divisional rivals to face each other early on, year after year. This setup increases the tension among teams and among their fan bases as well, supposedly translating into more profits from ticket sales and television ratings. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly echoed this vision when asked about the absence of the playoff structure from the General Managers’ Meeting agenda.

“The current system has done what it was intended to do,” Daly told TSN’s Frank Seravalli. “[It has] emphasized and featured rivalries in early round matchups, and that has generated interest and better ratings.”

There is no sign that anything will change in the short term. However, if the NHL decides otherwise, a better system that has already received widespread support is available.

grade inflation
Editorial, Opinion

Unfair admissions practices go beyond Hollywood scandals

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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Every spring, prospective McGill students begin to receive their offers of admission. These students will have among the highest grades of their graduating class: The mean grade 12 academic average for an accepted non-Quebec Canadian student was 93.7 per cent in fall 2017. However, McGill’s extremely competitive admissions cutoffs make the university susceptible to certain problems: For example, grade inflation is pervasive, particularly in private schools accessible only to the upper class. McGill must ensure that its admissions process does not give the children of affluent families an unfair advantage.

Grade inflation, by its nature, worsens over time: Schools that market their students’ sky-high post-secondary acceptance rates have to boost their students’ grades each year to keep up with competitors. Some students even go outside of their regular high-schools in search of a better GPA, opting to ‘buy grades’ by taking more difficult classes at ‘credit mills’ outside of their schools. In 2011, a Toronto Star investigation found that the Toronto Collegiate Institute, one such credit mill, was giving its students final grades that were mathematically impossible given their test results. These courses provide an unfair advantage to students who can afford to access these outside classes: A representative from TCI told the Tribune a in phone call that they charge $450 for a grade 12 biology course.

The admissions process for the University of Waterloo’s (UoW) Faculty of Engineering provides a template for how McGill and other universities can address this problem. Beginning in the 1990s, the UoW faculty began to measure grade inflation across Ontario high schools and adjust for it in their admissions process. After determining the difference between students’ grade 12 and first-year university marks, UoW determined the overall average for each school: If students from a particular high school have significantly lower grades when they arrive at university, Waterloo infers that their high school was padding their grades. Future applicants’ marks are adjusted accordingly during the admissions process. McGill should follow UoW’s lead and launch their own internal investigation on grade inflation statistics.

Still, Canadian admissions processes are fairer than their American counterparts: For example, admissions essays and extracurricular activities, common considerations in the US, are typically reserved for the most competitive programs in Canada. Including these non-academic factors stacks the deck in favour of students whose families have the means to support these often expensive pursuits. Legacy admissions, a concept relatively unseen in Canada, still gives US students an advantage if their family are alumni. Furthermore, the consideration of non-merit-based factors in university admissions has historically been used to bar entry to students from particular ethnic backgrounds: McGill maintained an unofficial cap on the number of Jewish students it would admit until after World War II, and Harvard University is currently being sued for allegedly discriminating against Asian-Americans in its admissions practices.

McGill’s grades-only approach offers a more level playing field. For most undergraduate students, the only non-academic factor included in applications is an optional letter in which applicants can explain why their transcripts may not accurately reflect their potential. Exceptions at McGill are the Faculty of Education, whose prospective students are required to submit a letter of intent, and the Faculty of Music, which also requires an audition and music reference letter. However, this relatively equitable system is also more vulnerable to the effects of grade inflation: McGill’s mean acceptance average has climbed by approximately 0.45 per cent every year since 2006 with the exception of 2013. 

Wealth will always provide advantages within a university and beyond. However, universities have a responsibility to minimize any unfair advantages. An equitable environment for students is not just an intrinsic good; fostering a meritocratic system, where any student’s talent can flourish, enhances McGill’s academic climate. McGill must take steps to address the threat that grade inflation poses to equity—for its applicants’ benefit and its own.

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