Published by the SPT, a student society of McGill University
Keep on Commuting
April 5, 2022
Gino McTuff’s journey to the library
March 29, 2022
Know Your Artist: Theodore A. Harris
May 27, 2026
The forgotten history of the Montreal coffeehouse
April 7, 2026
Preserving childhood magic in adulthood
April 7, 2026
In preparation for getting her braces on, my 13-year-old sister Noa recently met with her orthodontist for a consultation. The two agreed that she would have her braces on for about three years, that her elastics would be a neutral white instead of the bright pink and green for which I had opted at her age, and that she would floss regularly. The only point of contention was what purpose the braces served.
“I want you to keep the gap between my two front teeth,” Noa told Dr. Feinberg. Her diastema (the scientific term for the space between front teeth) had long been a defining feature; she often joked that she could fit her entire tongue through the opening, and the gap was cute and charming.
Dr. Feinberg informed her that this would not be possible, despite her diastema not being a medical liability.
Pop culture has long considered gapped front teeth to be a desirable trait, despite common perceptions that it is a cosmetic flaw that can be easily taken care of. Perhaps counterintuitively, it is pop culture that has taught my sister to embrace this quirk. As early as in the The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer describes “the gap-toothed” Wife of Bath, her diastema being symbolic of beauty and lust. Gap-toothed models like Brigitte Bardot and Lauren Hutton dominated magazines in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and stars like Madonna, Anna Paquin, and Georgia Jagger have carried the quirk into the new millennium. Even The Bachelor franchise, a series not known for its progressive beauty standards, starred gap-toothed bachelorette Rachel Lindsay in its latest season.
Les Blank’s 1987 documentary Gap-Toothed Woman looks at women with diastemas from all walks of life; he interviews notable gapped-tooth women like Hutton and United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. He gives equal airtime to everyday women to air early childhood grievances on this perceived flaw. Eventually, even the non-models conclude that their diastemas are empowering.
“I’m just wondering if people don’t think there’s some mystique about gap toothed women,” one woman giggles to the camera. “Gap-toothed women are supposed to be sexier.”
However, gaps in teeth need not only be for their aesthetic value. Diastemas are a non-issue, and fixing them can be expensive and painful.
For example, Patricia Arquette has famously refused to fix her crooked (albeit not gapped) teeth. When her parents offered her braces, she declined.
“It didn’t feel like it would fit who I was inside,” Arquette said in an interview with Today.
Not only did she cite a refusal to conform to how she was expected to look, but Arquette also believed that her teeth added character, and gave her a unique advantage in pursuing a career on screen.
Moreover, diastemas are also genetic, a symbol of heritage.
“Everybody in my family has [a gap], the women in my family,” says another woman in Blank’s documentary.
Growing up, I was the only woman in my family without gapped-teeth, and it was my mother and sister who got attention for their sweet smiles. Their grins were reflected in television and magazines, and it makes me sad that the trait I have always admired will soon disappear. I’d like for my sister to plead with Dr. Hirsch to keep her diastema; at the very least, I’d like for a 45-year-old orthodontist to stop telling my pubescent sister what she should look like.
The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) convened for its Winter General Assembly (GA) on March 26. Fewer than 350 students—the minimum requirement to meet quorum—attended the GA, forcing the assembly to become a consultative forum. All motions passed by a consultative forum can be added to the agenda of the following SSMU Legislative Council meeting. Attendees the Motion to Organize the Fight for Free Education and Cancellation of Student Debt, the only motion submitted to the agenda.
SSMU President Muna Tojiboeva attributed low attendance at the GA to the nature of the sole motion presented.
“The GA has been advertised on Facebook and publicized widely,” Tojiboeva said. “I think [lack of attendance has] more to do with the non-controversial nature of the motions, which usually attracts people to the GA.”
The motion was drafted by Socialist Fightback’s McGill chapter and mandates that SSMU support initiatives for free education and student debt cancellation. It calls upon the SSMU Vice-President (VP) External to collaborate with student activists across Canada to mobilize a one-day strike in Fall 2018. Additionally, the motion requested that SSMU establish monthly democratic assemblies to engage students in SSMU’s advocacy campaigns.
This motion is preceded by SSMU’s current policy to promote free education, which passed in 2015. Socialist Fightback member Natalia Garcia believes that organizing a strike is the next step in the fight for free education.
“The best way to fight for our rights is mass action,” Garcia said. “It took the 2012 mass strike for the government to cancel the tuition hikes. That’s what the government responds to, not letters, not votes. They respond to pressure. We don’t believe that [the government] will do anything by themselves if it’s not coming from [students].”
During the debate period, SSMU VP External Connor Spencer expressed her support for the motion, predicting that free tuition is potentially on the horizon for Canadian universities.
“The NDP just passed, at their congress a month ago, a motion to endorse free tuition,” Spencer said. “This is something that’s on the agenda for the upcoming provincial election, because students have mobilized. This motion is incredibly timely, and I want to lend my full support.”
Socialist Fightback member Vishwaa Ramakrishnan explained that this motion is only one step in the right direction toward free education.
“The motion is Canadian-centric but it is designed to expand beyond the confines of [Canada],” Ramakrishnan said. “This is a global issue. It’s time we start uniting as students across the country, across the world, for free education. I think only through solidarity, with this resolution as a first step in that greater and broader plan for free education, that we can achieve that.”
Not all students were in favour of the motion, however. Andrew Figueiredo, U2 Arts, stated during the debate period that he thinks free tuition is too ambitious a goal for a student strike.
“It’s fine and dandy to talk about free tuition, but it’s a bit of a pipe dream at this point,” Figueiredo said. “It would be nice to implement in the long run, but this motion is not the way to get there. A one-day student strike would not only be disruptive to campus life, it would frankly not work.”
Figueiredo further criticized the motion for a lack of fiscal policy details and expressed concern about the long-term repercussions of implementing free tuition.
“We could essentially tank the Canadian economy with this kind of idea, if it goes far enough,” Figueiredo said. “So let’s take a step back and think about these things, not go on strike, have pertinent discussions on campus, take some economics classes, and consult some experts before going about this.”
A majority of the consultative forum voted in favour of the motion. It was then discussed at SSMU Legislative Council on March 29, where an amended version passed calling for SSMU to work toward the implementation of monthly democratic assemblies in Fall 2018.
Know Your Artist: Theodore A. Harris
May 27, 2026
The forgotten history of the Montreal coffeehouse
April 7, 2026
Preserving childhood magic in adulthood
April 7, 2026
Only 16 months after his last album, Starboy, The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, surprised fans by dropping a 22-minute, six track EP, My Dear Melancholy (MDM). Aside from cryptic social media posts, the project went practically unannounced until Tesfaye posted the cover artwork to his Instagram account on March 29.
After the upbeat, 68-minute Starboy, which saw Tesfaye continue his transition into a bona fide pop star, MDM is a dive back into his shadowy R&B roots. Sonically, the album is dark and atmospheric, a deviation from the shimmering pop hits fans have become accustomed to. The production is superb, with collaborators that include Mike WiLL Made-It, Skrillex, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo (of Daft Punk), Frank Dukes, and Gesaffelstein.
Lyrically, MDM explores new thematic territory for the artist. As the title suggests, it is a downbeat listening experience, although not in the way Tesfaye’s music has traditionally been. It is a moody and bitter trek into a post-breakup universe, and is clearly inspired by his recent split with singer Selena Gomez. Virtually every track on the project deals with a terminated romance in some capacity, with variation only in his approach: At times, Tesfaye dishes out shade, while on other tracks he begs for his ex-lover to take him back—presumably the other love interest in his life, model Bella Hadid.
The opener, “Call Out My Name,” features a murky, haunting piano melody, flaunting Tesfaye’s powerful vocals and trademark falsetto, and lyrically does everything but name drop Gomez.
“Try Me” speeds up the rhythm, as uptempo drumbeats drive the song. Synths overlay everything, as Tefaye tries to persuade an old flame to “try [him]” again. On “Wasted Times,” the style maintains the EP’s nocturnal mood, but incorporates elements of dubstep. Skrillex’s involvement on the track is obvious, but only works to complement Tesfaye’s approach to the track.
“I Was Never There,” and “Hurt You” are the only tracks to feature another artist, namely Gesaffelstein in a non-vocal contribution, but they sound like two sides of the same coin. The underlying music is lush and complex, but Tesfaye’s singing is comparatively forgettable—his voice seems drowned out by everything else going on.
The album closes with “Privilege,” a sleek track on which Tesfaye parts with an ex-lover and promises a change-up. He croons, “I’ma drink the pain away, I’ll be back to my old ways,” in the same mood that defined his early EPs.
The project is a solid contribution to Tesfaye’s discography. Occasionally, the lyrical content marks a shift toward more heartfelt subject matter. Glimmers of real emotion are embedded in every track—a far cry from the drugged-up zombie on his earlier projects—reflecting Tesfaye’s artistic evolution.
But, as an individual who has prided himself on being a villain in the past, it is often difficult to empathize with Tesfaye on MDM. Fans who were introduced to him on House of Balloons(2011) remember him as a sociopathic, pill-popping sex machine, making his pleas to his former lover sound disingenuous. This is exacerbated by his petty and sometimes antagonistic lyrics: “Cause if it’s love you want again, don’t waste your time/ But if you call me up, I’m fuckin’ you on sight” he sings on “Hurt You.”
MDM is worth a listen. The songs feature excellent production, and Tesfaye’s trademark vocals don’t disappoint, despite the problematic lyrics. At the end of the day, the EP makes for excellent break up music. If anything, MDM shows Tesfaye’s ability to dip his toes into other styles, and it will be interesting to see what musical direction he takes next.
Briana “Hoops” Green first picked up basketball to be more like her older brother when she was four years old. Twenty-four years later, she’s still sharing the court with her brothers—but now there are nine more of them. They’re called the Harlem Globetrotters.
Hoops was the 15th woman named to Harlem’s roster in 91 years of Globetrotters basketball. After a wildly successful college career at the University of Texas at El Paso and a brief professional career in Spain, the Czech Republic, and Mexico, Hoops secured her spot on the team in 2017. The current roster lists 32 athletes—including a record-high four women—but they’re separated for most of the year, as they’re divided into different travel squads. On the Globetrotters’ current tour through Eastern Canada, Hoops is the only woman on the court, and she embraces it.
“[The boys] are a lot of fun,” Hoops said. “We have a blast on the bus, and we’re literally always together. They’re just a great group of guys that teach me how to be a Globetrotter on and off the court.”
Since her debut with the Globetrotters, Hoops has learned a lot from the teammates she calls brothers. Being a Globetrotter is all about providing entertainment—about mixing real, competitive basketball with the signature tricks and routines that fans have come to know and love. At the same time, it’s also about service and using the iconic Globetrotters brand for good.
Indeed, the Harlem Globetrotters have long been involved with issues bigger than basketball. Since their days as a solely-competitive team, they’ve used basketball to make important political statements: Most notably, their 1948 game against the Minneapolis Lakers contributed to the desegregation of the NBA. In 1985, Lynette Woodard became the first woman to suit up for the Globetrotters. While Woodard paved the way for seven more female Globetrotters, the revolution was short-lived: After 1993, the Globetrotters were exclusively male for an 18-year stretch. Fatima “TNT” Lister broke the drought in 2012, and the organization has since been committed to breaking gender barriers by bringing in top female talent.
The Globetrotters are often, with reason, commended for their big picture efforts toward equality in sport. Today, they continue to be involved in their local community, too, with initiatives such as Smile Patrol, which brings the Globetrotters into children’s hospitals, and SPIN, which is aimed at getting kids engaged in a fun, healthy lifestyle.
“We’re the ‘Ambassadors of Goodwill’,” Hoops said. “We’re basketball players, but we also do more than that. We give back to the community, which is something really important.”
Through these structured programs, the Globetrotters build their athletes into positive role models outside of the basketball world. The relationships between the fans and the athletes remain central to the organization, as they always make time in their game-day routine for admirers to interact with their favourite athletes. Hoops takes the fan-athlete relationship a step further, connecting with individual followers through social media.
“When I was a kid and I […] had a favourite basketball player, […] I would have wanted them to respond [on social media],” Hoops said. “I think that would have been pretty cool, so I just do that and give back, and if someone needs encouragement, I’ll try to encourage them. If someone needs a little help, a tip, or just someone to talk to, just say ‘hi,’ then I wanna be that person.”
The team’s concerted efforts to connect with fans, in addition to their wildly entertaining gameplay, draw a wide variety of people to their games. Whether they’re tipping off in Melbourne, Budapest, or Montreal, the Globetrotters manage to entertain people at all stages of life.
“Our fan base is so diverse,” Hoops said. “It’s basically three generations. You’ll see the grandkids, the parents, and then you’ll see the grandparents [….] We make the game for everyone, and it’s catered so that everybody can enjoy it and have a good time.”
The Harlem Globetrotters have always been enthralling and accessible. But, by including female athletes in their engaging routines, they’ve anchored a new demographic: Girls. The four women on their active roster have become role models for young women everywhere. While leagues like the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) also showcase women’s basketball, playing on the Globetrotters gives Hoops and her female teammates a unique chance to match up against talented male athletes.
“I think that’s what […] really impresses people, that I’m just a girl, a woman, playing with them,” Hoops said. “I just try to be a positive role model to [female athletes…] and encourage girls [to believe] that they’re more than capable of doing anything they put their minds to if they just invest the time.”
Hoops earned herself a spot with the legendary franchise by posting videos of dribbling routines, but her role with the Globetrotters has grown far beyond her world-class handles. Every time she suits up in the storied red, white, and blue, she’s making a statement: Women’s sport is valid, important, and tremendously entertaining.
“We’ll continue to break barriers as we go along, but it’s definitely positive that […] there are four women on the team, and hopefully we’ll have more each and every year,” Hoops said. “We’ll continue to build on that, and grow, and let them know again. Women are more than capable.”
Critics must balance linguistic priorities with human impact when discussing Air Canada’s faux pas
April 7, 2026
The pattern behind Hassan’s denial of entry
April 7, 2026
The idea that arts degrees are useless has become a cultural joke. Every holiday, my friends and I repeat the same conversation, poking fun at the fact that our relatives are definitely going to ask us about our studies, followed by the inevitable question: “What happens after graduation?” Yet, this conversation only scratches the surface of the problem that is the Bachelor of Arts. The division between arts and sciences in post-secondary education hinders student potential. The solution? A multidisciplinary approach to degree planning.
Public universities must preserve and promote their arts programs alongside their science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs, because an arts degree teaches students to think creatively, challenge existing scholarship, and contribute to cultural discourses. Pushing students into a more traditionally profitable field guts their potential to learn these critical thinking skills. However, the classical liberal arts degree is itself problematic, because it still bears the shadow of its original design as an object of the leisure class. It is therefore difficult for money-minded students to pursue, for example, a classics or literature degree. If students, educators, and employers alike struggle with the divide between the disciplines, it may be time for higher education to overhaul its polar structure by emphasizing interdisciplinary learning and the idea that arts degrees can be profitable.
The divide between arts and STEM is a pastiche of historical holdovers and a short-sighted desire for capital gain. Liberal arts education has been reserved for the cultural elite since the classical period. The contemporary university grew out of this model. Knowledge not based in skill or craft (for example, knowledge of a dead language) was reserved for those who could afford to spend their time learning without working. At modern, public universities like McGill—which, in theory, are more accessible—an arts degree is still a precarious option for those without generational wealth, one seen as a detriment to financial security. In contrast, STEM degrees tend to top lists of most lucrative majors.
The air of financial insecurity associated with an arts degree can discourage students from choosing and parents from supporting such a path. The idea that there are “no jobs in the arts” is so pervasive that it has led some institutions to defund arts programs. Most notably, the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point recently unveiled plans to cut some arts majors in favour of more employable programs in an attempt to attract more students and boost revenue. Governmental policies, such as the UK’s and China’s, are even more extreme, and provide more support for the study of STEM subjects than for the arts.
Messaging from families, institutions, and governments reinforces the idea that the arts are the provenance of the leisure class, and ignores a more complicated reality. Arts degrees tend to pay off long-term, especially when augmented by further education, because they teach students to communicate and problem-solve effectively. Yet, even in light of this information, institutions still feel pressure to fast track their students into STEM fields. It is time to de-emphasize the arts versus STEM polarity in the public mind, so that STEM majors do not eclipse the arts entirely.
An interdisciplinary approach to higher education has the power to create new ways of engaging with fields that some might see as useless or outdated. For example, the meeting of computer science and arts has created new ways to engage with texts that have been picked over by scholars for centuries. Tufts University’s Perseus Digital Library, for example, provides a literary database and analysis tools for ancient languages. JSTOR Labs marries technology with its extensive online database to create new ways to interact with primary and secondary sources. If universities like McGill encouraged students to take an interdisciplinary approach to their studies, they might find themselves breaking vital new ground in fields that many see as arcane. McGill, notably, already offers a joint arts and science degree, but due to the cultural divide between the two, high school applicants may not be equipped with the knowledge to choose such a path. Even such requirements as arts electives for science students do not help the situation, as they reinforce the idea that the arts are auxiliary.
The financial uncertainty facing those who choose an arts degree is a cultural myth that reinforces the false notion that the arts are dying. An interdisciplinary model for universities would encourage innovation and give students the opportunity to fuse marketable skills with the equally important, but devalued, critical thinking skills provided by the arts.
Just hearing the “C” word is enough to send chills down anyone’s spine—and with cancer warnings splashed across everything from cigarette packages to coffee cups, it’s difficult to avoid. In 2017, the Canadian Cancer Society amassed over $80 million in donations. According to their 2017 report, 206,200 Canadians are expected to develop cancer within their lifetime, and 80,800 will die of the disease.
Donations are often funnelled into research on high-profile cancers, like breast cancer, that boast highly successful charities. Meanwhile, ovarian cancer receives little funding despite its status as the most fatal gynecological cancer in Canada.
However, new hope for early detection springs from the Research Institute of McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), which has overcome a critical obstacle in developing new methods of screening for ovarian and endometrial cancers in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University.
Currently, screening is not recommended for ovarian cancer due to a lack of effective methods. The difficulty in screening lies in the fact that ovarian and endometrial cancers are heterogeneous diseases, comprising of multiple subtypes that vary in fatality rates.
“In ovarian [and endometrial] cancer, the subtype that causes most of the deaths is called type two variety, [or] high-grade serous cancer,” Dr. Lucy Gilbert, director of Gynecological Oncology at the McGill University Health Centre and corresponding author of the study, told The McGill Tribune.
Unfortunately, current technologies are limited, and the type two subtype is often only detected in its third or fourth stage, by which time it’s often too late for the patient. Testing for the disease is limited to the CA 125 blood test and ultrasound imaging, neither of which can detect high-grade serous cancer in its critical early stages.
“Before [type two ovarian and endometrial cancers] cause symptoms [like] bleeding or bloating [or can be detected by imaging] they have to reach a certain volume,” Gilbert said. “At the moment, we don’t have any test that can pick it up […] before it spreads from the organ of origin [or beyond Stage 1].”
The genius behind Gilbert’s approach is targeting the earliest step in carcinogenesis: Mutations within the cell. PapSEEK, the new test described in the team’s publication in Science Translational Medicine, looks for mutations associated with these cancers by analyzing pap tests from the uterus and cervix.
“We have been looking for a test that can pick these cancers up even earlier when it’s tiny and microscopic before it causes symptoms [and] can be seen on imaging,” Gilbert said. “And the principle behind these tests [is mutations].”
Upon mutating, these cancerous cells “exfoliate,” losing their ability to adhere to one another. Even if the cancer originates in the fallopian tubes or the ovaries, exfoliated cells find their way into the uterine cavity and cervix, where Gilbert has found these flakey, mutated cells.
“By collecting cells from the cervix, and looking for these mutations that are specific to ovarian and endometrial cancer, you can identify these cancers very, very early,” Gilbert said. “[By collecting from the uterus], we were able to increase the sensitivity of the test from 33 per cent for ovarian cancer to 45 per cent, and 78 per cent to 93 per cent for endometrial cancer.”
The team’s success has drawn attention to a larger issue: The absurd lack of funding for ovarian cancer research. Between 2010 and 2014, ovarian research received only $16.9 million in funding, $64.4 million less than the funds allotted to breast cancer research. Funding, Gilbert said, continues to be disappointing.
“Women […] end up costing health care services [huge amounts] simply because of the volume of deaths and suffering, and there’s not enough funding going into it,” Gilbert said. “[PapSEEK needs] large amounts of funds [to continue its research]. We have started on a small scale but we expect to have to [continue] for another three to four years before we can get sensitivity higher and [increase] specificity.”
On March 28, the McGill University Senate, the governing body tasked with general control and supervision over academic matters at McGill, convened to discuss McGill’s changing approach to issues of academic integrity. Martine Gauthier, executive director of Student Services, also introduced the new Rossy Student Wellness Hub (RSWH). Additionally, Senate touched upon the newly released federal and provincial budgets, and heard a status report from the Principal’s Task Force on Respect and Inclusion in Campus Life.
The problem with plagiarism detection software
Arriving at the podium for his proposal to repeal the Policy on Text-Matching Software, Professor Chris Buddle, Dean of Students, was greeted with laughter from the senate’s generally stoic audience.
“I want to thank all of the senators for coming today for this momentous occasion,” Buddle said. “Repealing a policy […is not done] very frequently at universities.”
Text-matching softwares, such as Turnitin, are programs that detect intellectual copyright violations in academic work. Buddle shared the Office of Teaching and Learning’s complaints about the policy, which was developed after McGill purchased a specific license for text-matching software, but has since become obsolete. Laura Winer, director of Teaching and Learning Services, elaborated on the Senate’s motivations for creating the policy in 2004.
“The origins of this policy were […] concerns about student data privacy,” Winer said. “[There was concern about] students who didn’t want their intellectual property […] becoming part of a third-party’s database that would be used for profit.”
The policy depended on McGill using a single plagiarism detection software for all academic work produced at the university. Currently, the university no longer has an institutional license for text-matching software, and the policy has not been revisited since the Board of Governors approved it in December 2004.
The need for such a solution is waning with the rising number of non-text-based assignments such as code for computer science courses, which require a different approach to combating plagiarism. Before putting the motion to a vote, Buddle emphasized McGill’s unwavering stance toward instances of intellectual copyright infringement.
“Of course, to repeal a policy like this might suggest for some that we don’t take academic integrity seriously, which is not the case,” Buddle said. “I don’t think […] repealing this policy in any way will lessen our commitment nor the means that we have to ensure academic integrity is upheld at the university, whether formally through our code of conduct, or through the […] Academic Integrity Module.”
Senate voted to pass the motion to repeal the policy. Professors are still able to copy and paste suspicious paragraphs from students’ essays into search engines, but are required to notify students when using text-matching software.
Rossy Student Wellness Hub in planning stages
Gauthier spoke to Senate at length about the forthcoming creation of the RSWH. The initiative will be the largest change to McGill’s Student Services since the implementation of the collaborative care model in 2016. The program will integrate student health, psychiatry, and counselling under one umbrella service.
“Health promotion includes awareness, prevention, and early intervention,” Gauthier said. “At this point, Student Services, in terms of our approach to student mental health, has been largely reactive. So we’re moving to a more proactive model. We’re trying to get into where students are working, learning, and living, […] and providing support before students get to a crisis point where they need to be accessing a counsellor or psychiatrist.”
The three current part-time directors of student health, psychiatry, and counselling will continue to oversee quality of care within their separate disciplines. However, with the introduction of the Hub, the RSWH director and the associate director of Health and Wellness Promotion—two positions which have yet to be filled—will oversee quality of care in all three disciplines.
RSWH will be housed in the West Wing of the Brown Building, which the university plans to renovate in Summer 2018. Gauthier emphasized that construction will not interrupt the functioning of health services.
The Hub is projected to open its doors in January 2019.
Know Your Artist: Theodore A. Harris
May 27, 2026
The forgotten history of the Montreal coffeehouse
April 7, 2026
Preserving childhood magic in adulthood
April 7, 2026
Would you believe me if I told you that I recently discovered a reality show that made me want to move to America?
The show in question is the Netflix original, Queer Eye, a reboot of the popular 2003 Emmy-award winning show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.
Queer Eye revolves around the “Fab Five;” five gay men who are experts in their given lifestyle field. At the beginning of each episode, the Fab Five drive to a new city where someone has nominated a straight man in their life who needs an intervention. The Five then spend the week making over a hapless man. In the original show, they would counsel him on his personal style, spruce up his living space, give him a great haircut, pat him on the head, and send him on his way.
In this newest instalment, Jonathan Van Ness covers grooming, Karamo Brown is all things culture, Antoni Porowski is an expert on cooking and wine, while Bobby Berk oversees interior decor, and Tan France is charged with building a new wardrobe.
In episode one, “You Can’t Fix Ugly,” we meet straight guy Tom, a self-proclaimed “dumb ol’ country boy from Kentucky,” drinking a Jumbo Texas Margarita at a local bar. Tom is bearded, overweight, and seems to be permanently wearing a baseball cap, T-shirt, and shorts. The Fab Five jump into action, Tan finds Tom age-appropriate clothes while Jonathan trims his beard and Bobby renovates his bachelor pad. Antoni teaches Tom how to make guacamole.
After the makeover, the six men sit down to debrief. Tom, freshly made over, starts to cry. He spoke about how much he appreciated the Fab Five’s help.
“I loved their personalities,” Tom said. “I’ve never hung with gay guys before and they were great. They were so open with me and I was open with them.”
This, coming from the butch guy who asked earlier in the episode if Bobby Berk was the “wife” in his relationship with his husband of five years. This moment moved me to tears, which doesn’t often happen watching reality television.
Though the reboot does maintain the same structural components as the original (introduction, intervention, makeover, reveal), it surprised me by going much deeper. The men wrestle with conflicts such as sexuality and religion, the acceptance of oneself and of others, racial tensions, and bigotry. Perhaps most surprising is the way that time and time again, the Fab Five manages to break down barriers with the “straight-guys” that go far beyond skin deep.
In episode 3, “Dega Don’t,” Karamo Brown, the first African-American member of the Fab Five, and redneck “straight-guy” Cory discuss the relationship between black communities and the police. Cory, a cop, enters the conversation noticeably defensive about the actions of his fellow officers. “All police officers don’t want to be lumped into being the bad guy, you know.” But as the conversation continues, you see a compassionate dialogue emerge between the two men.
Corey ends the conversation by stating, “Black lives matter, they weren’t able to be heard, and the police officers weren’t able to be heard. If we could sit down and have a conversation like me and you just did, things would be a lot better, you know, in society. Everybody wants to talk, but nobody wants to listen.”
This conversation pretty much sums up what is so impressive about this new season of Queer Eye. The show has covered meaningful topics including sexuality, religion, coming out, race, and ethnicity with each member of the Fab Five bringing a unique perspective to the conversation.
‘Journalism After Gaza’ panel discusses media bias and the future of reporting in Palestine
April 26, 2026
Winter 2026 report card: On-campus dining
April 7, 2026
Finding home in Montreal
April 7, 2026
As the school year comes to a close, many McGill students’ focus gradually shifts to exams, OAP, and summer vacation. While some choose to spend their summers in Montreal, the majority decide to go away to work or travel, leaving their bedrooms empty with summer rent to pay. The solution to this is to find a subletter—or a person who pays rent to stay in an apartment for a short-term period. Though competition for summer subletters may be steep, following the right steps can make it much easier for students to find a tenant and save about four months’ rent. To help students in the process, The McGill Tribune has put together a list of tried-and-true tricks to help you set up a stress-free sublet for the summer.
Make sure you have your landlord’s permission
Before starting your search for the perfect subletter, look at your lease and make sure it doesn’t forbid subletting. Chances are you’ll be fine, but it’s worth a look to avoid trouble with your landlord. If you’ve got roommates, make sure you also make sure they’re okay with you subletting your room. Whether or not they’ll be there over the summer, open communication is key to avoiding uncomfortable apartment drama.
Set a reasonable price
Recuperating 100 per cent of your costs would be fantastic, but it’s a lot more realistic to advertise your subletting price at about 75 per cent of what your rent is. Sublets around McGill are often listed at a pretty substantial discount, so doing the same will help your ad stay competitive and increase your chances of finding a subletter. As for hydro and Wi-Fi costs, take a look at other ads to see whether charging extra for utilities will take you out of the competition. Remember that getting some of your costs back is better than getting none at all.
Post your advertisement in the right places
While Craigslist and Kijiji can be good options when selling something in Montreal, advertising your apartment in places where it will only be visible to McGill students is arguably a preferable option. Not only is it simpler to communicate with a fellow student, but narrowing your audience to the campus community can also lower your risk of being scammed by a stranger. Start by posting your apartment on McGill’s listings website and the various Facebook groups dedicated to housing ads posted by and for McGill students, such as “McGill Housing-Rental-Rooms-Apartments-Sublet” and “Housing.” If you’ve tried these groups and have no luck finding a subletter, then consider casting your net outside the McGill community in groups like “International Roommates in Montreal” and “Chez Queer Montréal.”
Make your advertisement attractive and informative
When creating your ad, make sure to include plenty of clear photos, the location of your apartment, correct pricing information, the number of roommates who would be living in the apartment at the same time, and the start and end dates of your sublet period. By answering as many potential questions as possible right off the bat, it will be easier for prospective subletters to make a quick decision about your place. In terms of pictures, make sure to highlight the coolest features and amenities of your apartment—like balconies, a dishwasher, or a washing machine, and its location—including the stores, cafés, and transit options nearby. The goal is to make your apartment stand out from the rest, so make sure to clean up your space and take your photos while the sun is out to produce the most eye-catching results. When writing the ad, use language that will help people picture themselves having an awesome summer in your apartment. This may sound cheesy, but phrases that spark the imagination, like “With a beautiful view of the mountain, the balcony is the best place to study, to pre, or to get that perfect sunset Insta pic,” will leave you with an inbox full of offers.
Don’t forget to check your message requests on Facebook
Even if you provide another way for people to contact you in your ad, some will still message you on Facebook. It’s very easy to miss message requests in your inbox but doing so may lead to a missed opportunity. Once you do receive a message, make sure to be friendly and quick to respond.
Be welcoming during visits
If you find someone interested in visiting your apartment, make sure to clean up your space before they come over for a viewing. Once they’re there, be hospitable and friendly. Make sure to offer them water or snacks and engage in conversation. You want to make them feel comfortable and welcome in your space. By doing so, you can ensure that they leave your apartment with a good feeling about you and the place in general, and are more likely to sublet it from you.
Get your subletting agreement in writing
Once you’ve found a subletter, draw up an agreement with key points. This agreement should outline who will be living there and on what specific dates, the exact amount they will be paying, and other rules the subletter should abide by. An inventory of furniture and other items is a good idea to include in the agreement, so you can rest easy knowing your things will be just as you left them when you return. You still hold the lease, which makes you responsible for paying the rent whether or not your subletter follows through—so this step is perhaps the most important.
