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Student Life

The best online resources for apartment hunting

by Nicholas Raffoul on

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With the winter semester underway, May leases are quickly coming to an end. For first-year students, the beginning of the winter term is a crucial time to figure out their living situations for the upcoming fall semester, find roommates, and select which neighbourhood in Montreal is their best fit. Finding the right apartment is difficult enough without McGill’s academic workload, but online resources can help make the search much more convenient. The McGill Tribune has compiled a list of online rental resources, rated based on their user-friendliness, selection of apartments, and the specificity of their search filters.

Louer.com — 2/5

Louer.com has poor search filtering options, and the website can be a headache to maneuver. The website does, however, do a good job of consolidating the multiple rental sites’ resources, producing an uncluttered list of results. Also, renters can contact property owners directly from the platform. Unfortunately, with a quick search, prospective renters will find that most listings fail to give considerable details or clear images of the apartments, ultimately making the apartment hunting process more difficult.

Kijiji — 4/5

Although Kijiji isn’t exclusively dedicated to real estate, the website lists a diverse selection of apartments and other living spaces around Montreal. With the right keywords, potential renters can find hundreds of listings in their preferred neighbourhood. Additionally, most listings are fairly detailed and provide sufficient information about the apartment. However, Kijiji filters don’t allow house-hunters to narrow their search by apartment features such as heating and appliances. After making an account, users can message the hosts directly from the platform.

Kangalou — 3/5

With a sleek website and comprehensive search filters for heating, accessibility, and appliance availability options, Kangalou is the most user-friendly option on this list. The biggest disadvantage of this website, however, is that does not have many listings; ads for popular areas like the Plateau can have as few as 15 options, leaving almost no room for proper browsing. As a result, the listings are often over-priced, making the site, overall,  inaccessible to the student community.

Facebook groups — 3/5

While Facebook is not a real estate platform, there are many local groups which advertise great living options for student accomodations. McGill-specific groups, such as Housing, and Montreal rental groups, like Apartments for Rent, offer plenty of options and rental steals for students and those looking for short-term living situations. These groups have little-to-no search filters, so keywords are renters’ only mechanism to filter their results for the apartment size or location they are looking for. Facebook housing groups are particularly useful for those who can’t find roommates and do not want to live alone, as many advertisements are for single-bedroom sublets. Facebook groups are also well-suited for renters in search of atypical arrangements such as sub-leases or leases starting mid-summer.

 

McGill, News

SUS proposes raising fees to accommodate growing organization

by Kate Addison on

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McGill’s Science Undergraduate Society (SUS) held a General Council meeting on Jan 23 to discuss upcoming elections, consider the aftermath of the recent Science Games, and propose an increase in the society’s membership fees.

 

Referendum to raise SUS membership

SUS president Reem Mandil introduced a notice of motion to add three referendum questions to the ballot for the upcoming SUS elections: The renewal of the Lab Improvement Fund—which has been in place since the 1980s—changes to the SUS constitution related to executive portfolios, and a hike in the SUS membership fee from $12.30 to $15.30 per semester.

This three dollar increase of the membership fee is expected to generate a profit of $27,285, most of which would be used to hire an accountant to manage the SUS budget. While it may be unwelcome news to some, Vice-President (VP) Finance Dylan Wong compared SUS’s fee to the fees of other societies’ pricier membership fees.

“The Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS) […] charge[s] $28 per semester, and the Management Undergraduate Society (MUS) charges $30 [per] semester,” Wong said. “We’ve not necessarily been as financially sound as we could be.”

Several other faculties are able to raise funds through their student bars, such as Bar-des-Arts and Blues Pub, but the Faculty of Science does not. The last time SUS raised its membership fee was five years ago, however, neither McGill nor SUS put into effect adjustments to match inflation. Had this been the case, the membership fee would currently be $13.56.

 

SUS elections fast approaching

SUS elections will occur throughout February. The council voted 27-1 to ratify Chip Smith as the new Chief Returning Officer (CRO), who will be responsible for facilitating SUS elections. Polling will begin after Feb. 19, and results will be in by Feb 25. In the lead-up to voting, a “Meet the Candidates” event will be hosted on Feb. 15 as an opportunity for McGill students to meet the students running for positions.

There are seven SUS positions up for election, including the position of Science Representative to the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU). Former representative Moses Milchberg has recently resigned; given the timing, the SUS has decided not to host a by-election and substitutes will attend to his duties until a replacement is elected.

 

Science Games an overall success

VP Internal Zlata Plotnikova considered SUS’s recent Science Games a success.

“Science Games are over, nobody died,” Plotnikova said.

With the drinking and festivities, the safety of the participants was a serious concern for the SUS council. Plotnikova manually cross-checked that the 913 participants had completed their waivers prior to participating. She reported that measures to educate students on the risks of the event such as the waiver meant that the 2019 Science Games caused no liability for SUS.

“[SUS] should have made around two to three thousand dollars, if not more, from this year [from science games],” Plotnikova said.

While this profit is good news for SUS Council, the money will be going straight to the start-up fund for Frosh.

SUS council will reconvene on Feb. 6 at 7:00 pm in Leacock 232.

 

A previous version of this article stated that the Jan. 23 meeting was a General Assembly. In fact it was a General  Council meeting. A previous version of this article stated that Reem Mandil introduced a motion. In fact he introduced a notice of motion. 

Editorial, Opinion

Students can’t afford Doug Ford

by The McGill Tribune Editorial Board on

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On Jan. 17, the Ontario government announced multiple financial changes for university students, including the cutting of the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). For many students, this means that they might not be pursue or complete a degree, as financial changes will be applied this September. The cost of cutting OSAP is hardly remote to our campus: University documents indicate that six per cent of McGill students receive funding from the program.

Beginning in 2017, Ontario students whose families earned less than $50,000 per year had their tuition fully subsidized by OSAP in the form of non-repayable grants. As family income increased above this threshold, so did the ratio of loans to grants. This program was particularly successful in assisting indigenous students, whose enrolment numbers jumped by 36 per cent after the introduction of OSAP. Premier Doug Ford’s government plans to scrap this program entirely, instead offering a 10 per cent tuition cut for all students. This is not an equal trade-off: The cut will save those pursuing a Bachelor of Arts about $660 per year, while preventing other students from attending university altogether. Enacting a decrease at the cost of impeding many from pursuing their education is unjust.

Besides OSAP, the Ford government announced that all ancillary fees, such as student association dues and club fees, must be made optional, which may leave some McGill students envious. While the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) has had a relatively scandal-free year, chronically low voter turnout and social media complaints show that cynicism about student government remains.

In truth, Ontario students’ new reality is hardly desirable. The change to student fees undercuts students’ ability to advocate for their interests, and it, along with a 10 per cent tuition cut, is simply a distraction from the Ford government’s gutting of OSAP.

Depending on a student’s program, they can expect to pay $500–$2,000 per year in ancillary fees to fund services such as athletics facilities, student support centres, and student groups. The government’s pledge to make ‘non-essential’ fees optional comes with a catch: It excludes fees that support general ‘health and wellness,’ mental health, and student safety, which are often the most expensive. Students at York University, for example, may only save about $120 per year. Presenting these fee cuts as a way for students to save money is far from the truth, and only serves as a diversion, enabling some students to overlook the OSAP cuts in the pursuit of frugality. 

Included in the fees which the Ford government plans to make optional are those that fund student unions and campus media, including television, radio stations, and newspapers. Jeopardizing these organizations’ futures could be a serious blow to students’ ability to lobby institutions for necessary change. Many student unions actively lobby provincial and federal governments for favourable policy changes; former SSMU Vice President (VP) External Connor Spencer was instrumental in the creation of Quebec’s Bill 151, which requires all post-secondary institutions in the province to maintain a sexual violence policy. Student media hold university administrations and student unions to account. The fees that fund these groups are approved by popular referenda and are not passed arbitrarily. Dismissing these groups as ‘non-essential’ demonstrates how out of touch the Ontario government is with students’ realities.

There are no signs that similar cuts will come to Quebec: During the election, the Coalition Avenir Québec promised a modest funding increase for post-secondary education. However, Quebec’s history of conflict and protest between students and the provincial government gives these changes particular resonance. Moreover, the six per cent of McGill students who receive OSAP funding will have their futures upended by the Ford government’s announcement.

Regardless of origin, students should speak out against Ford’s proposed changes and amplify Ontarian students’ concerns for their futures. The support student associations provide are often essential to students’ wellbeing of individual students, and the advocacy of student unions and media can directly affect students’ lives. Moreover, many students will now not be able to attend university at all, and the Ford government is jeopardizing those students’ futures in favour of a minor tuition cut. This is not something McGill students should hope to see replicated on their campus, and it is crucial that they support Ontarian students, while also engaging with their own unions and associations.

 

Student Life

Campus art for the busy student

by Lucy Keller on

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Across McGill’s three campuses, there are roughly 2,000 pieces of artwork scattered throughout hallways, grassy areas, and lecture halls. The work held in the university’s collection ranges from the iconic The Three Bares, by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, to hidden gems that students overlook. Luckily, the McGill Visual Arts Collection (MVAC) has been offering weekly tours of the art on the downtown campus since 2013.

While McGill has a world-renowned collection of art, most students have never noticed even the most acclaimed pieces on campus. The MVAC tours allow students to take breaks from their busy schedules and appreciate the settings they often overlook, such as the James Sculpture Garden outside McConnell Engineering, the Lichtenstein Tapestry in the Arts Building, and the Visual Storage Gallery on McLennan library’s fourth floor. Curator of the MVAC Vanessa Di Francesco believes the tours serve as a form of self-care.

“McGill students are unbelievably busy with hectic day-to-day and on-campus schedules, and there is often little time to visit a museum or gallery,” Di Francesco said. “By placing art all over the campus, and especially by offering weekly tours on a walk-in basis, we hope to offer students and the University community an opportunity to access and experience art more easily.”

The tour conveniently departs from Service Point every Wednesday at noon. Typically, they operate on a first-come-first-serve basis, but tours can also be organized beforehand to accommodate any specific needs, including large groups or students with disabilities.

Beyond becoming more familiar with McGill’s campus, students may also find that taking time out of their day to interact with art will improve their mental wellbeing. Art therapy is considered to be an effective coping mechanism for students in need of a break. MVAC director Gwendolyn Owens encourages students to take advantage of this easily accessible opportunity.   

“Our tours and visits are free, and [there is] no prescription needed.” Owens said. “We like to promote the idea that, in so many places on the McGill campus, now, you can take a break and look at art.”

When faced with a busy schedule, students’ mental health is often the first thing they overlook, whether that means not getting enough sleep to forgetting to enjoy their free time. While the stereotypical practice of art therapy usually consists of creating art, many contemporary art therapists believe that simply appreciating another artist’s creative choices can be therapeutic in itself.  

“Students may often walk right past some of the art on campus and not notice it, but the tours compel us to take these works in and appreciate the work,” Di Francesco said.

After the tour, with students aware of the extraordinary art on campus, they may be more inclined to take time to observe the spectacular pieces on campus. Rosalind Sweeney-McCabe, U1 Arts and MVAC intern, explained that these tours can help students escape from their daily routine.

“By taking a tour and learning about the McGill art collection, it gives students the chance to reorient themselves in their monotonous schedule,” Sweeney-McCabe said. “I think it is important for students’ perspectives to remind ourselves that there are other things going on and [that there are] other facets of our lives at McGill and the space that we are in.”

McGill students often find themselves stuck in a continual battle between paying attention to their mental health and achieving the grades that they desire. Attending a visual arts tour can be a convenient and stimulating experience that help break students out of their daily ruts and introduce them to a new form of self-care.

News, The Tribune Explains

The Tribune Explains: Deputy Provost, Student Life and Learning

by Heather Weinreb on

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In a message to the McGill community, Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Christopher Manfredi announced the selection of a new Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning) by Summer 2019. The candidate, who will lead the Office for Student Life and Learning (OSLL) over a five-year mandate, will be selected by an advisory committee to the principal comprised of staff and students.

What does the Office of Student Life and Learning do?

The OSLL encompasses six departments: Student Services, the Office of the Dean of Students, Student Housing and Hospitality Services, Enrollment Services, Athletics and Recreation, and Teaching and Learning Services. Its role is to offer practical services to the McGill community to assist its members in all aspects of university life.

Recently, the OSLL developed a McGill app, which is now available for download on Apple and Android devices. The app serves as a digital organizer for everything school-related. Users can arrange and share their class schedules with friends, sign up for McGill events, use the maps function to find specific buildings, and communicate via its messaging platform.

The OSLL has also helped organize McGill’s second caiSES (Canadian collaboration with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society) conference, which will bring indigenous students and professionals together at McGill from Mar. 1-3. The conference serves to provide a platform for students interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to share their success stories, network, and meet with corporations looking to hire.

 

What does the Deputy Provost do?

As leader of the OSLL, the Deputy Provost oversees 650 employees and sets the agenda for the office’s projects. In a message to The McGill Tribune, interim Deputy Provost Fabrice Labeau explained that the office of the Deputy Provost provides strategic guidance by setting the agenda for the OSLL and gives support in the form of HR, finance, and communications.

 

How will a new Deputy Provost be selected?

In the coming months, a new Deputy Provost will be selected by an advisory board consisting of members of the Senate, the Board of Governors (BoG), and the student body. The advisory committee will also refine how the role of the Deputy Provost is structured. To do so, the advisory committee encourages feedback from the McGill community and welcomes any comments that address the qualifications a new Deputy Provost should possess, the challenges faced by the McGill community, and any suggestions about how to address these challenges over a five to 10 year period.

Additionally, the advisory committee will be holding in-person sessions with the McGill community on Feb. 6 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the James Administration Building, room 301.

As part of McGill’s Wellness Week, students and staff are invited to chat with current Deputy Provost Fabrice Labeau on Jan. 29. Those interested can sign up for a time slot and are encouraged to share questions, concerns, and suggestions relating to life at McGill.

Due to the broad scope of the role, meetings with the larger McGill community are crucial to ensuring that this position represents the values and priorities of the students and staff.

“We as a community have the power to define what this appointment will mean for us,” Labeau said.

Comments on the Deputy Provost selection process can be sent to [email protected].

News

AUS Councillors debate electoral systems

by Ahmad El-Zammar on

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The Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) held a Legislative Council meeting on Jan. 16 to address recurring electoral issues, some of which were noticeable sources of tension among movers.

 

Punitive electoral measures

When running for office, AUS candidates currently have a ‘three-strike process’ for infractions of the electoral bylaws and the society’s constitution. AUS President Maria Thomas proposed replacing the process with a more adaptable demerit system.

Under the new system, transgressors would collect demerit points for committing specific infractions, including engaging in deception, bribery, or posting over another candidate’s campaign material. Elections AUS may decide to issue a formal warning based on an individual’s demerit points or even have the candidate disqualified.

With respect to the new system, Joshua Werber, vice-president (VP) External of the Religious Studies Undergraduate Society (RSUS), proposed that Elections AUS should be required to instruct candidates on how to appeal its punitive measures.

“Simply because a lot of students may not know how,” Werber said. “Even though it is a simple process, it might seem murky.”

 

Online Voting

The Quebec Studies Student Association (QSSA) attempted to opt-out of AUS’ online elections system and was given permission to hold its elections internally. QSSA VP External Anaïs Lepine-Lopez argued that, given that they only represent approximately 10 departmental minor students, her department’s size should be taken into account when deciding whether or not online voting ought to be implemented.

“An online platform is not effective for us,” Lepine-Lopez said. “We’re a small department.”

A compromise deal passed unopposed. QSSA was permitted to hold in-person elections but only if it conducted online voting in unison, thereby assuaging concerns raised about setting an ambiguous precedent.

The move for internal elections became a contested issue when the Classics Student Association (CSA) pointed out that it had been denied a similar request in the past. CSA VP External Sara Merker expressed her confusion as to what standard procedure is.

“I tried to pass basically the same exact motion at our last meeting, and it got denied,” Merker said. “We have a department where you can fit everyone in a room to vote together, and that was kind of the point, and, so, I just don’t know whether taking this on a case-by-case basis with mixed results is going to be an issue.”

Thomas expressed doubt as to the suitability of internal voting altogether, seeing it as a potential hindrance for some voters.

“I just like don’t think this is the best idea for accessibility,” Thomas said. “I do think, though, that [the motion] should be amended, if the movers are open to it, to both […meet] in a room and [have] an online option because you just, can’t anticipate someone being sick [on election day] or something like that.”

Anticipating low voter turnout, executive members of the Religious Studies Undergraduate Society (RSUS) moved to hold interviews for filling the department’s executive positions instead of holding an election. They ultimately decided, however, to rescind their motion and send it to a subcommittee for further review.

Arts Senator Madeline Wilson dismissed the RSUS’s fears.

“If you think that [an election] is too much work; being a student executive is also work,” said Wilson. “If someone doesn’t want to run for an election, maybe they would not be up for the responsibilities of that position.”

The RSUS’ request will be re-examined at the next AUS council meeting, following the subcommittee’s report.

AUS Legislative Council will reconvene on Jan. 30 at 6:00 pm.

Emerging Trends, Student Life

The power of tidying up

by Sophia White on

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Since Netflix released ///Tidying Up With Marie Kondo/// on Jan. 1, energized viewers have been eager to tap into the ‘life-changing magic of tidying up.’ Thrift stores have reported more donations than usual, and fans have turned to social media to express their undying love for the show’s host, Marie Kondo, and her minimalist organizational tactics. Kondo is a Japanese organizing consultant and creator of the KonMari method, which urges adherents to go through their belongings and get rid of any possessions that fail to ‘spark joy.’ With the right advice from Kondo and other experts in the field, tidying up can have profound, time-saving impacts on students’ everyday routines.

The Kondo craze has inspired busy families, couples, and students alike to declutter and get their lives in order. Maya Khan (U2 Arts) recently purged her entire closet after watching Kondo’s show. Khan’s wardrobe, which was once bursting at the seams, now consists of around 30 shirts and five pairs of pants, which fit into just two small drawers. She feels relieved while working at her desk now that her clothes no longer surround her in her room.

“My productivity definitely has increased, and I feel much better having everything clean and polished,” Khan said. “Honestly, I’m slowly getting to the point where I might [reorganize] the house because of [Marie Kondo].”

However, tidying up can be a daunting task for other students, and, even after seeing a professional in action, it is difficult to know where to start. Maggie Munro (U1 Arts) recounted her frustrations after watching Kondo’s series, observing how it made her hyper-aware of her own clutter but did not motivate her to tackle it.

“I absolutely love Kondo and respect her anti-consumerist, minimalist philosophy,” Munro said. “But I find the ‘spark joy’ principle too vague for me to apply to my own life because everything I own can spark joy for me if I think about it long enough.”

For those seeking a more hands-on approach, there are other experts who can offer some helpful tips. Although professional organizing may seem like a niche occupation, Kondo is not alone in the field. Alison Lush, a certified professional organizer in Montreal, has a passion for helping people to declutter their homes, and she prides herself on her non-judgemental, individualized approach. She has studied the KonMari in depth, but finds Kondo’s style to be too dogmatic.

“[Kondo] believes that everyone should be doing it the same way,” Lush said. “I believe every individual is on their own journey, and everyone listens to their inner self and what’s important to them. [The way people live their lives] is a personal decision, and we shouldn’t be judging.”

Lush recognizes that all of her clients are unique, but, during the decluttering process, she suggests that everyone reevaluate the way they manage five main resources: Money, time, space, energy, attention, and, most importantly, stuff.

“I encourage everybody to reflect on the volume of stuff they have and to take ownership of it,” Lush said. “There’s a lot of payoff to actually thinking about our stuff and what serves a purpose. It makes daily life easier.”

Lush has developed a number of organizational strategies to help clients, such as creating a ‘VIP parking spot’ for possessions that get lost easily or cause extra stress when needed in a rush. For Lush, clutter only poses a problem once it becomes an inconvenience, but, similarly to Kondo, she believes that everything her clients own should have personal value. She urges her clients to create their own rules and boundaries so that, over time, they develop personalized habits and make sustainable changes to their own lifestyles.

Lush also offers practical advice for university students, who are often balancing multiple responsibilities and may live with roommates who don’t share the same standards of tidiness.

“Take a deep breath,” Lush said. “It’s hard being a student: Recognize that. Any time we share a living space with someone, it comes with costs and benefits. We have the benefit of shared responsibilities, but it’s also inevitable that there’s compromise along the way.”

The notion of keeping up a tidy lifestyle may sound intimidating, but, with the help of experts like Kondo and Lush, students can alleviate the dread associated with tidying. Lush sees the potential for fun in cleaning up, and believes that, with time, students can figure out an organizing system that works for them.

“Managing all of our resources is a lifetime learning curve,” Lush said. “I’m in my ninth year as a professional organizer, and I’m still learning. I try to look at it like an adventure and a discovery [and] to try to put a positive spin on it, because why not?”

 

Science & Technology

Politicized care: Indigenous ways of knowing in healthcare

by Zoe Doran on

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McGill Nurses for Global Health hosted a panel of indigenous healthcare professionals and community members on Jan. 17 to discuss the importance of integrating indigenous understandings of health into care.

Megan Eaker, a McGill Nursing master’s student and woman of mixed Cree and European ancestry, opened the event by offering concrete steps that healthcare professionals can take to better serve indigenous communities. She emphasized the importance of making room for ceremony and spirituality in healthcare. At the same time, she also implored healthcare professionals to understand the diversity of indigenous cultures within Canada as well as the vast continuum of cosmologies within a single nation. Her arguments may appear obvious, considering that there are over 600 distinct indigenous nations in Canada, but, nonetheless, Eaker lamented that a conversation about indigenous diversity is frequently excluded from modern Western medicine.

Involving indigenous culture in healthcare is one way to sustain traditional ways of knowing, but the approach is complex given how variable the different cultures are. However, different First Nations face the similar challenges of displacement, colonialism, and genocide.

“We cannot talk about indigenous health without [referring to] land and colonialism,” Jessica Barudin, indigenous health advocate and program manager of the Indigenous Health Profession Program, said.  “We can’t understand indigenous health without understanding politics.”

Colonial violence and the ongoing systemic oppression of indigenous peoples in Canada have disrupted the traditions of health and wellness which previously existed in indigenous communities. As a result, reconnecting with culture, land, and spirituality is often a necessary process in indigenous health.

Cheryl McDonald, a matriarch and grandmother of the Wolf Clan of Kanien’kehá:ka, addressed the need for healing beyond the physical. McDonald recalled how the traumatic experience of her sister disappearing left physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wounds. She also recounted her own path to advocacy for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls organization. In reflecting on her trauma, McDonald emphasized that a return to her culture was an important part of her healing process as an indigenous woman.

“Reconnecting to nature and the elements is the purest form of healing,” MacDonald said.

Otsits (aken:ra, a respected elder and faith keeper of the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community of Kahnawá:ka, closed the event by speaking about how spirituality has shaped healing within his own community.

“In everything in this Earth, there is medicine,” Patton said. “It is us who have forgotten the healing. The Earth is our mother, not something we buy or sell.”

Patton highlighted the importance of integrating diverse indigenous knowledge into healthcare. Modern medicine defines health according to the biopsychosocial model, which considers biological, psychological, and social factors of being healthy, as well as their interactions. However, this model excludes spiritual health and, consequently, the comprehensive health needs of many indigenous populations are not met.  

All of the speakers agreed that healthcare professionals have a responsibility to advocate for spirituality in wellness and also consider the deeply-politicized nature of indigenous identity. They called for healthcare that combats, not furthers, colonial violence.

McGill, News

Students report sexual harassment on campus at night

by Abeer Almahdi on

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CW: Sexual harassment

With midterm exams approaching, McGill libraries will soon be open for 24 hours, meaning that more students will be out late studying. Several students have reported seeing people masturbating on campus during the past year, often at night, and have been disappointed in the precautionary efforts. The risks on McGill’s downtown campus are partly mitigated by measures for students walking home alone, such as emergency phone lines and student-run groups like Walksafe and Drivesafe. Yet, these measures can sometimes fail to provide timely or adequate responses. On Dec. 9, Kirsten Vanderlinde (U1 Arts) was walking to the McLennan-Redpath library complex when a man approached her and started masturbating.

“I got to campus at 12:30 [a.m] and I was right at the Y-intersection, and the guy had asked me where the closest metro was […], and it was dark,” Vanderlinde said. “But then I noticed that the person’s arm was moving kind of weird […], and then I followed his arm and […saw] that he was masturbating right in the middle of our campus.”

Vanderlinde claims that she informed McGill security of the incident immediately afterward and that the staff laughed at her complaint. She subsequently wrote a post on the McGill Entering Class 2017-18 Facebook group, warning students about a potential sex offender on campus.

“When I got to the library, I told the security guard and she laughed about it,” Vanderlinde said. “I can understand why you think that’s funny, but it’s your job to keep people safe. I had to call [security] the next day to find out what they did. They [said] they searched the area […], but they didn’t find him.”

Manraj Grewal (U1 Science) witnessed a similar incident the following week.

“Around 9 p.m. […], I was walking back on Sherbrooke […], and as I was approaching the Roddick Gates […], this man walks up to me, [and] he’s masturbating,” Grewal said. “[He] asked me where the nearest metro station [was….] I cussed him out but he started walking away really fast [….] I walked back to the library [and] told security.”

Grewal made a post in the same McGill group on Dec. 15, alerting students of her similar incident on campus. She had previously seen Vanderlinde’s post and said the alleged offender matched Vanderlinde’s description.

Vanderlinde and Grewal’s cases are not unique. Two other McGill students, Danielle*, U2 Science, and Jane*, U0 Arts, whose names will remain anonymous, were both victims of similar instances of sexual harassment on campus in 2018, though they identified different offenders.

“[Last March], I was in RVC and I was taking a break from studying,” Danielle said. “At some point, I look out the window […] and I [see] a guy standing […] Then I look down and start realizing [that he’s masturbating].”

Jane recalled walking to her residence at night when she allegedly saw a man masturbating by Molson Stadium. According to Jane, a similar incident occurred a few days later at the same location. Both Jane and Danielle claim to have experienced lasting trauma.

“[I] felt quite violated, […] sexual harassment is never a good feeling,” Jane said. “It’s different when it’s something that obvious […] and it’s right next to where you live, and it’s a place you have to walk [by] every day. It made me feel quite violated in a location I can’t avoid.”

Vanderlinde was frustrated with McGill security’s alleged lack of response to her disclosure. She believes that McGill security should provide extra protection during exam periods when libraries like Schulich and McLennan-Redpath are open 24 hours a day.

“I understand that our campus is downtown, and you can’t prevent everybody from coming onto campus, […] but I also feel like that is such an obvious thing that [security] could have spotted,” Vanderlinde said. “When the school does have the library open for 24 hours, they know that students are going to be around here later at night because of that, [and] they should try to keep the area around school safer during that time.”

According to McGill security services’ annual report, there were 15 reports of ‘Indecent Exposure or Peeping’ in the 2016-17 year, but the numbers decreased to nine reports in the 2017-18 year. McGill security did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

*The names of these sources have been modified to protect their anonymity.

McGill, News

SEDE to be replanted in new offices

by Krithika Ragupathi on

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The McGill Reporter announced on Aug. 9 that McGill’s Social Equity and Diversity Education (SEDE) Office is being restructured to prioritize equity issues on campus. Toward the end of the 2017-18 academic year, students responded to these changes negatively and criticized the administration for proceeding without consulting the student body, prompting the administration to hold upcoming consultations on Feb. 12.

The SEDE office opened its doors in the fall of 2005 as a result of discussion among students, administration, and other community members on issues of harassment and discrimination on campus. Since then, SEDE has run various projects that focus on community engagement and equity in education, including Homework Help at Kahnawá:ke Survival School, Black History Month, and Indigenous Awareness Week.

“Basically, what we’re trying to do is take the different functions […of] the SEDE office and [put] them in locations where they’re going to be strengthened,” Fabrice Labeau, interim deputy provost (Student Life & Learning), said. “Among the things we’ve done is relocate some people from the office of the Provost and […] created a few additional jobs within these offices. Some of the other activities of SEDE are moving to student services, so the portion that has to do with the family care coordinator is now going to be integrated in the new [Rossy Student Wellness Hub].”

The changes include moving equity education and employment programs to the Office of the Provost as well as moving outreach and community services programs to the Enrollment Services building.

A student-run Facebook campaign called “McGill Needs SEDE” was created in early December to protest the restructuring. The campaign’s open letter to Associate Provost (Equity and Academic Policies) Angela Campbell, urging the administration to stop the SEDE office from closing, garnered over 250 signatures from students and alumni.The letter stated that the decision to restructure SEDE put funding for community engagement projects at risk.

“[I eventually] read [the letter], but it was never sent to me,” Campbell said in an interview with The McGill Tribune. “I read a version that was online in December. Someone sent it to me, but the people who drafted the letter never sent it to me.”

Campbell responded to student inquiries regarding the closure of SEDE in an article in the Reporter, stating that SEDE was not closing, as the student open-letter had suggested. She clarified that SEDE would likely not exist at its current location, 3610 McTavish, and that the community engagement work will continue through Enrollment Services.

“There was never a communication that anything was going to be discontinued or even scaled back,” Campbell said. “In fact, the resources, both financial and human, that have been put into equity and community engagement have been made much more robust in the last two years.”

The specifics of SEDE’s continuing operations remain unclear.

“I’ve been told nothing is going to be lost,” Jacob Shapiro, Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) vice-president (VP) University Affairs, said. “I think that’s something students will be on board with even though the question becomes […] where is the space where people will feel included? And are there going to be more or less of them?”

Funding to SEDE has previously been an issue. In 2014, SEDE office workers were anxious about having to potentially reduce programming following provincial budget cuts the previous winter.

“One of my main concerns is that students who have been part of these programs, who have benefitted from these programs, were never consulted about what the future of these programs should be,” Ananya Nair, Arts Undergraduate Society’s community engagement commissioner, said.

For the upcoming consultations on Feb. 12, Campbell intends to meet with student associations, particularly underrepresented groups on campus, to gather input from students on current and future equity initiatives.

“We heard you didn’t feel consulted about these changes in SEDE,” Campbell said. “We really regret that. We want to have an opportunity to hear from you.”

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