This summer’s series of Black Lives Matter protests around the globe have sparked greater awareness of colonial legacies that persist in public spaces. Recent petitions calling for the removal of the James McGill statue and Sir John A. Macdonald monument, and a name change of the Lionel-Groulx subway station have[Read More…]
Search Results for "Admin"
McGill aims for online and in-person options after Education Minister’s decision to reopen schools
McGill is standing by its May 11 decision to offer instruction primarily through online delivery platforms for the Fall 2020 semester after Education Minister Jean-François Roberge’s announcement on June 16 that schools across Quebec can reopen in September. McGill will conduct all essential class activities through remote instruction, but hopes[Read More…]
Open letter on Frosh 2020
To the McGill community, Frosh has long been a cornerstone of the McGill experience, allowing new students to meet their peers while participating in social activities. Like so much of our lives right now, Frosh 2020 has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges that this pandemic presents,[Read More…]
Rankings distract McGill from student needs
The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) and Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) have each released their respective rankings of the world’s top universities for the upcoming academic year. After eight years of decline, McGill has improved in both rankings. CWUR rates McGill as the 27th-best university in the world, an increase[Read More…]
Tear them down
It took three years of protests, demonstrations, and referenda for McGill to rename its racist men’s varsity sports teams, all because the administration valued something that students voted overwhelmingly against. For a university that prides itself on its progression, this paternal insistence that McGill knows better than its students is[Read More…]
COVID-19 calls for a shift in how McGill students view the elderly
Michelle Wilson was shocked to find her father looking unrecognizable during a window visit to his nursing home in May, his lips cracked and arms ridden with sores, despite reassurance from staff that he was doing just fine. He died shortly thereafter. There’s no shortage of stories like this: Blood-curdling[Read More…]
‘Influence’ presents a damning portrait of Lord Tim Bell
Influence, written and directed by Montreal-based documentary filmmakers Diana Neille and Richard Poplak, sets forth a captivating portrayal of Lord Tim Bell, the British advertising executive who co-founded the public relations firm, Bell Pottinger, and helped to put Margaret Thatcher into 10 Downing Street. Influence does not get lost in the[Read More…]
McGill prepares to celebrate the class of 2020 with virtual convocation ceremonies
McGill will celebrate the class of 2020 on June 18 and June 19 with virtual convocation ceremonies due to physical distancing regulations spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic. Principal and Vice-Chancellor Suzanne Fortier announced on April 24 that the in-person convocation ceremony will be postponed until Spring 2021 provided that public[Read More…]
Black Lives Matter at McGill too
Danielle Geathers, MIT’s first Black woman student body president, and Nicholas Johnson, Princeton University’s first Black valedictorian, inspired my recent Facebook post reacting to the news that I would be serving as one of the very few Black presidents in the Students’ Society of McGill University’s (SSMU) 112-year history. I[Read More…]
McGill must reinstate Shanon Fitzpatrick
In May of this year, Assistant Professor Shanon Fitzpatrick of McGill’s Department of History was denied tenure by the administration. This move was highly unusual—Associate Vice-Provost (Equity and Academic Policies) Angela Campbell said in a presentation to student leaders earlier in the year that candidates who are endorsed by their[Read More…]