After Open Air Pub’s two-week bender of socialization, drinks, barbecuing, and dancing, students are looking to continue the party. While 4à7, Bar Des Arts, and Gerts are all up and running with the same schedule and system as last year, Blues Pub decided to switch things up.
This year, non-Engineering students interested in attending Blues are required to either RSVP for a ticket on Thursday to enter the pub on Friday, or be the plus-one of an Engineering student. This new system, intended to control capacity and reduce security implementation, seems to be stirring up controversy among the McGill student body—some approving, some neutral, and many disappointed.
Frequent Blues participants like Dena Mathilde, U3 Arts, voiced strong sentiments against the new policy in an interview with The Tribune.
“I absolutely do not support this decision […] because no other faculty bar is discriminating actively against other faculties with some sort of ‘legislation.’ In what world are you only allowing 100 [non-Engineering students]? What happens if 50 people come and it’s just lame? What are you gonna do?”
Mathilde stressed that adding a cap to entrees may disrupt the overall “fun and liveliness” of the event. She further explained that Blues is fun and popular because it’s “more [of] a spontaneous thing” to attend, and not a long ordeal that one has to prepare for days in advance.
Juliette Whitecross, U2 Science, similarly questioned such faculty division.
“None of the other student bars have done this, so I don’t understand why they are doing it to [Blues] specifically. I know a lot of the Science kids will be disappointed, since Science students don’t have a designated bar that they can fall back [on].”
On the opposite side of the spectrum, Engineering students yielded mixed opinions.
Aidan McKibbon, U3 Civil Engineering, detailed his approval of the new system, adding more context as to why Blues implemented these new rules in the first place.
“I generally support the new admission system. I have non-Engineering friends and they just come with me and my Engineering friends. I like the idea that it’ll be less busy and I also enjoy spending time with my Engineering community so [….] I think it will encourage me to go more and see my Engineering buddies.”
Other Engineering students feel differently. In an interview with The Tribune, Romain Le Galliard, U3 Civil Engineering, said, “I’m against the policy because I feel like it’s just more fun when all faculties can get into Blues without tickets. I know that some people had trouble getting tickets because they sold out immediately when they came out.”
Le Galliard’s point suggests that the large number of interdisciplinary demographic students attending is what adds to the charm of the Blues experience. Once this barrier is in place, this diversity disappears.
Across Engineering, Science, and Arts, students have mixed critiques of this system, voicing both costs and benefits. Most who expressed disapproval of the RSVP system also mentioned how this will discourage them from future appearances at Blues.
Mathilde added, “I actually don’t think that I will ever remember to [RSVP], and if this [system] continues I think that we will see a lot of people not be able to get in or make it to Blues this semester, which sucks because it’s really fun.”
Only time will reveal the outcome of the new admission policy: Whether it succeeds in its mission, affects future turnout, or pushes Blues to evolve further into an Engineer-centric event.
