The McGill University generally houses its spring call in the right field within Roddick’s doors. This year, the ceremony moves inside, and tickets will be reduced by half to two per graduate.
In general, free, tickets will also cost $ 25 each. In a memorandum sent to the students, McGill says he is charging tickets to help compensate for the cost of the event.
These last minute changes have frustrated students, and some even launched a request that has obtained more than 1,100 signatures.
Last year, the university celebrated its ceremonies of convocation in the Bell Center due to the pro-Palestinian camp on the center campus. The school says it costs more than $ 700,000.
But this year, McGill says that the Bell Center is not available, and the event must still be carried out inside, so, on the other hand, the call will take place in the Tomlinson Fieldhouse gym. That means that space is limited.
“It’s frustrating,” said Sara Raubvogel, who graduated this year. “This is a big problem and obviously this happens once in life and was really excited.”
He was waiting for his whole family to come out and attend, he said.
Mason di Pierdomenico, who also graduates this year, feels similarly.
“It saddens me already many of the McGill graduates that we cannot be on this grass here with our family and friends enjoying the beautiful McGill campus,” he said.
Several more students have communicated with CBC News to express their concerns.
McGill recognizes the error in planning
In a statement on Friday, the school says it has “heard the very real concerns of our students and their families, and we are actively working to address them.”
“We recognize that we made an error in our planning and communications about the Spring 2025 call, and we sincerely regret this,” says the statement, adding that the school is working hard to “correct the course” and share more details as soon as possible.
In a letter to the students on Thursday, the interim preboste of the school, Angela Campbell, recognized the disappointment that was felt throughout the community.
“I am very sorry for this information to be transmitted so suddenly and without any context,” he wrote.
She says that Tomlinson Fieldhouse has been used in the past, and teams are working to ensure that graduation ceremonies “feel special and significant for you and your families.”
But it is a smaller space, so there are only two tickets available per graduate, with a limited number of tickets additional to sale two days before each ceremony.
Campbell says that the $ 25 rate was introduced for all call ceremonies that take place this academic year to help compensate for significant costs of organizing an event of this scale.
“The cost is also in line with practices in many other universities,” he adds. “We know that this situation is not ideal, especially for those with families traveling to Montreal, but we are working tirelessly so that the 2025 call is a success.”
There will be a live broadcast available for those who cannot attend.
McGill has not said why the call must be held again inside this year.
The news of charging for tickets to help cover costs occurs as universities throughout the province are struggling to balance their budgets, facing a deficit of $ 200 million.
In McGill, however, the budget was mainly balanced through staff wear and retirement. The university is predicting a 10 percent drop in international undergraduate students and warns that a more pronounced decrease would significantly affect income.
