The Tribune
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 2025 | VOL. 45 | ISSUE 2
STUDENT LIFE
New to Montreal? Here’s what to do in your first few weeks PG. 10
Published by the SPT, a student society of McGill University
OFF THE BOARD
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FEATURE
Sleep to dream: In defense of napping
McGill Athletics’ great divide PGS. 8-9
PG. 5
McGill discusses potential consequences of drop in international student enrolment University saw a 22 per cent drop in international student applications in the Fall 2025
NEWS
McGill encompasses a community of international students from over 150 countries. (Emiko Kamiya / The Tribune) Tribune)
Ryan M. Taylor Contributor
U
niversities across Quebec and Montreal have experienced a significant drop in international student applications for the Fall 2025 semester. Concordia University and Université de Montréal have seen a 37 per cent decrease in international student appli-
cations, while McGill has seen a 22 per cent drop. McGill’s student body is made up of a diverse range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. According to the Fall 2024 Admissions Profile, 2,023, or 28.04 per cent, of new enrolments McGill accepted were international students, a figure consistent with previous years. In 2024, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada announced a target cap of 485,000 on new international study permits. This measure alone is reported to
McGill, prestige won’t protect students from inequitable healthcare education EDITORIAL
The Tribune Editorial Board
T
he McGill administration has dissolved its Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences’ Social Accountability and Community Engagement (SACE) office—the medical school’s main equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) body. Consequently, the university fired three major SACE leaders, all members of racialized groups with extensive research backgrounds in healthcare equity. In their place, McGill hired a singular white Vice-Dean of Community Engagement, Dr. Beth-Ann Cummings, whose qualifications do not seem to parallel those of her predecessors. This move comes
after Canadian medical school accreditation authorities placed the Faculty of Medicine on probation for a second time in February 2025, citing failures to meet 25 out of 96 standards, particularly its lack of adherence to anti-discrimination and diversity policies. When McGill was first placed under probation in 2015, it established the SACE office to address equity concerns outlined by accreditors. Yet, despite the Faculty of Medicine’s continued probationary status today, McGill dismantled the very office it introduced to address EDI concerns. This reflects a profound institutional disregard for the role of EDI in medicine, which functions both as a means of improving diversity within the profession and of fighting racist bias in healthcare. PG. 5
have decreased the number of international students by 40 per cent across Canada. In 2025, the federal government sought to decrease the number of new permits issued by another 10 per cent, bringing the figure down to 437,000 permits. Moreover, in December 2024, the Quebec government passed Bill 74, which sought to give education ministers and higher education ministers more control over PG. 3 international student regulations.
Point-Counterpoint: Sabrina Carpenter and the thin line between submission and control ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Man’s Best Friend: A friend to all is a friend to none?
In defence of Man’s Best Friend Malika Logossou Managing Editor
O
n Aug. 29, Sabrina Carpenter released her album Man’s Best Friend. But the real conversation began months earlier—on June 11—when she unveiled the provocative cover art on Instagram. It features Carpenter on all fours, in a black mini-dress and high heels, as an anonymous man grips her by the hair. A sec-
ond promotional image shows a dog with the album’s name on its collar, an idiom for unquestionable loyalty to one’s owner. Critics slammed the cover as “deeply irresponsible,” “regressive,” and “insanely misogynistic,” with some saying it “set women back like 100 years.” However, such outrage misses the point. Carpenter is not glamorizing subservience but rather confronting it. Listeners should understand the album as a self-aware journey. PG. 12