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Concordia Student Union News

CSU’s Transitional Housing Project’s second phase unanimously passed

Photo by Catherine Reynolds/ The Concordian

Concordia Student Union continues its program to help students and community members transition out of homelessness.

In their last meeting, the Concordia Student Union (CSU) successfully greenlit the continuing development of the CSU’s Transitional Housing Program. This project was intended to last only until Nov. 2. However, due to its success, it has been prolonged into a phase two until Aug. 2024. The second phase is the continuation of the first phase but with a bigger budget to assist more people.

The Transitional Housing Program gives struggling unhoused students and community members the opportunity to have temporary housing for up to three months while looking for a permanent place to live. 

CSU sustainability coordinator Maria Chitoroaga, who ran for her position because of this project, proposed this program’s second phase in the council meeting. The motion was passed unanimously. 

“This project is very close to my heart. It’s one of those projects that directly impact students’ lives,” Chitoroaga said.

The Transitional Housing Program’s first phase had a high success rate. Half of the people who have been housed have already found a permanent place to live and have graduated from the program. Several people did not need the full allotted three months to find permanent housing. The remaining individuals who need help just recently started the program.

“Our projection was that people would stay for three months, but one person stayed for just under three months, and another only stayed for half a month,” said Chitoroaga.

These people exceeded the CSU’s expectations and became independent faster than expected. However, the CSU’s Housing and Job Resource Centre (HOJO), anticipates an increased demand in the upcoming months because of the housing crisis.

“I would like to keep seeing ways in how we can enshrine this project so that it is permanent,” said CSU External Affairs and Mobilization Coordinator Hannah Jackson.

The CSU owns three furnished apartment units located close to Concordia’s Sir George Williams campus. Since the start of the program seven people have benefitted from the project’s help. These people either lacked stable social networks and were faced with dangerous sleeping spaces or relied on friends, where they could only stay for a few weeks.

“What has been done with the Transitional Housing Project is pretty exciting and unique in terms of what student unions are doing to substantially make a difference with students in precarious housing, which we know is getting worse,” Jackson said.

Students who wish to apply for this program can book an appointment at the HOJO to explain their situation. HOJO’s housing search director then interviews candidates on their situation. Those who do not qualify for temporary housing can still request additional help.

Phase two’s approved budget is $30,000. This will be funded through the Student Space, Accessible Education and Legal Contingency Fund. The proceeds go to funding the housing search director’s salary, furnishing, operating and groceries for the apartment units.

Towards the end of the meeting, the council touched upon a student-led class lawsuit against Concordia University. This issue is regarding the transfer of information for the purpose of administering Concordia University’s student health and dental insurance plan. This case is still ongoing and has yet to be resolved. 

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Sports

Stingers basketball dominates at Loyola in the Concordia Classic Tournament

Chama Jen-Julien vs. the UNBC Timberwolves Credit: Liam Mahoney

How strong is the home court advantage? Women go 3-0 and men go 2-1 against nation-wide visitors.

The men’s and women’s Stingers basketball teams hosted the Concordia Classic Tournament over the first week of October at the Loyola campus. Both teams invite three other schools from around Canada to participate. Each team faces a new opponent per day over the course of three days. 

Women’s tournament results

Our women’s team hosted Thursday through Saturday and played University of Toronto (U of T), University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) and Ontario Tech in order. The Stingers were unbeaten, accumulating a total point difference of 102 against the three teams and finishing at the top of the table.

On Oct. 5, Concordia played the U of T Varsity Blues. It was a very close matchup. The teams were more or less even, though the Stingers had the edge in converting free throws. Out of both teams shooting 19 shots from the line, the home team made 14, compared to the away team’s 10. Forwards Angela Batrla and Gretta-Olivia Ineza were the main contributors to this precision, succeeding in 83.3 per cent and 100 per cent of their shooting respectively. Bartla later won the tournament’s MVP award. Concordia won 53-49.

Against the UNBC Timberwolves the next day, the women’s team showed utter dominance, never letting the opposition take the lead. Up by one in the first quarter, expanding to 19 in the next, to 30 in the third and finally reaching 35 by the end of the game. Concordia won 75-40.

On Oct. 7, the Stingers played the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks. This was a blowout, as the Stingers dominated in almost every aspect. The Stingers put up 14 more shots, converting 22 per cent more, collected 16 more rebounds and were able to score 29 points off of turnovers. Again, Batrla and Ineza were the stars of the show, though fifth-year point guard Areej Burgonio assisted nine times. Shooting guard Florence Poirier also scored 16 points and went 5-5 on free throws. Concordia won by a whopping 53 points, at 99-46.  

Men’s tournament results

As for the Stingers’ men’s basketball team, they also hosted UNBC, along with the University of Regina (U of R) and the University of New Brunswick (UNB) from Friday to Sunday. The Stingers managed to win their first two games, but were unable to pull through in the last showing. The men’s Stingers placed second out of four. 

On Oct. 6, the Stingers showed solid defense, only allowing 67 points throughout the game. Although the team had a significantly harder time scoring from three (34.8 per cent success) than the opposition (42.9 per cent success), Concordia was able to put up a significantly higher number of shots (30-75 vs. 27-65), and converted more at the freethrow line going 6-9. The Stingers showed off their ability to score off of the bench, as point guard Alec Phaneuf scored 10 points in the nine minutes he was on the court, as Emmanuel Duprate averaged a point per minute with 13. Starting shooting guard Jaheem Joseph managed a double-double with 10 rebounds and 21 points. Concordia won 74-67. 

The Stingers displayed their best performance of the weekend against the U of R Cougars on Oct. 7. This time around, even more love was shared around the team, as three bench players were able to ball for at least 15 minutes. First-year center Bradley Louidon impressively put up 12 rebounds in 25 minutes of play time. Starting guard Jordan Telfort made all of his free throws and scored 22 points in just over half the gametime. The Stingers’ decisive quality was their domination in three-point conversion, making 54.5 per cent, compared to U of R’s 32 per cent. Concordia won 81-73

Jordan Telfort vs. the U of R Cougars
Credit: Liam Mahoney

On the final day of the tournament, the Stingers faced the UNB Reds. Although Stingers veteran point guard Sami Jahan put up a lifetime performance of 32 points, six rebounds and made eight out of nine free throw attempts, there was no stopping the Reds. Every starter scored over 10 points, two of whom scored at least 20, including tournament MVP Marcus Barnes. The Reds were almost 14 per cent more clinical behind the three-point line and 4.5 per cent higher field goal percentage. They scored 10 extra points off of turnovers. No question. Concordia lost 90-72.

Stingers basketball is strong this year, and we should keep an eye out on their upcoming seasons. The women’s Stingers play ULaval on Nov. 4 for their home opener and will play in the AWE Classic York University in Ontario from Oct. 20 to 22. The men’s Stingers will also play their home opener against ULaval on Nov. 4. 

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News

‘My whole motive is to just give back’: Design student fights for a user-friendly Montreal

Dashiell Friesen and the mural on Mackay Street. Photo by Lily Cowper / The Concordian

From changing public transport signage to blocking off Mackay street to cars, Concordia student Dashiell Friesen wants to bring change to Montreal’s streets.

In the early hours of Sept. 29, Mackay Street, located on Concordia’s Sir George Williams campus, was blocked off by students demanding the road’s pedestrianisation. 

Running up and down the street throughout the protest was Dashiell Friesen, one of Pedestrianise Mackay’s coordinators. Directing traffic away from the street and helping his peers paint a mural, Friesen found himself in an uncertain, yet exciting new situation.

“I’ve never done a project like this to this size,” Friesen said in reference to the mural. “It’s been an experience seeing it being created, [Mackay] being blocked off… […] It’s changed my perspective on protests.” 

Friesen is a fourth-year student in design at Concordia and a long-time advocate for increased public infrastructure. 

Growing up in the heart of New York, he said he experienced the utility of public transportation. Its proximity and ease of access was a gateway into independence in his teenage years. Friesen’s fascination for public transportation grew over the years, eventually leading him to apply his passions into real-life action such as the Mackay Street blockage.

Friesen has been coordinating efforts to pedestrianise Mackay Street since the past summer. First, his plans focused on transforming Bishop Street, as it already gives priority to pedestrians. However, he soon set his sights on Mackay Street, as he thought it served as a better equivalent to McGill University’s pedestrianised McTavish Street.

“There’s such a limited amount of space available, without tearing all the buildings down,” Friesen explained. “I think that’s what I appreciate the most with Montreal, it’s that there’s just more public space to just hang out.”

Friesen said he envisioned a pedestrianised Mackay having walking space above all, as well as seating areas and a garden.

The Mackay Street protest was not achieved solely through Friesen’s efforts. Alongside him was Lily Charette, mobilisation coordinator for the Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA). Advocating for various causes during her time at Concordia, Charette is no stranger to researching and bringing a protest to fruition. 

“Dashiell was someone I would always talk to about [Mackay],” Charette said. “There was never really a big push for it, it was always pushed to the side in the past. He was really passionate about the project.”

The pair worked together to bring this project in the limelight. Where Charette hosted meetings and came up with a plan of action, Friesen would plan out mock-up models and write proposals to involved authorities such as Concordia’s administration or to the city. 

Last summer, Friesen installed signage stickers for Réseau Express Métropolitain (REM) access at Bonaventure and Gare Centrale stations, days prior the Autorité Régionale de Transport Métropolitain (ARTM). 

While passing through stations, he noticed there were no clear directions guiding travellers to the new REM trains. Friesen utilised his background in design in order to print his own signs based on the city’s previous designs for other modes of transport.

After initially reaching out to the ARTM about changing the signage, Friesen’s efforts came to light thanks to news outlets. This, alongside his own efforts to contact the ARTM, prompted them to install clearer signage for the REM. 

“I don’t typically love participating in protests, I’m fine just seeing them. But I wanted to still be involved in advocating for something in the city,” Friesen explained. “In a way, protesting was me installing my own signs, or you know, getting a huge group of people to block a street.”

Emboldened by the change he’d been part of with the REM signage, Friesen decided to tackle pedestrianising Mackay Street. “My whole motive is to just give back in general,” Friesen said.

In the weeks since the street blockage, the painted mural has remained on Mackay Street. Friesen said he has received good news regarding the city’s plans for Mackay Street. However, he said his cohort’s job is far from over, as they’ll have to keep raising awareness in order to fuel the conversation they’ve started in Concordia’s halls.

Mackay Street and the Hall Building.

Photo by Lily Cowper / The Concordian

Categories
Sports

Shaughnessy Cup: Frank Shaughnessy’s legacy lives on after over 50 years

Frank J. "Shag" Shaughnessy, and his cup. Credit - Keven Vaillancourt

Stingers to face McGill Redbirds at the 54th annual Shaughnessy Cup on Oct. 20 at Percival Molson Stadium. 

The Shaughnessy Cup will see Concordia and McGill face off on Oct. 20, but the man behind the cup is as interesting as the game itself.

Frank Shaughnessy: a Canadian sports pioneer

Frank Shaughnessy was the McGill University football head coach for 17 seasons, starting in 1912. During his time there, he helped transform Canadian football.

His most significant contribution to the game came in 1921. At the time, Canadian football looked like a hybrid between rugby and modern football, with players only able to pass the ball backwards. As mentioned by the McGill University Athletics Hall of Fame, Shaughnessy introduced the forward pass to the game in 1921. He also lobbied for its implementation into the rulebook until it was allowed in 1931.

After leaving McGill, he started coaching the Loyola College football team, where he helped them become the 1928 Canadian intermediate champions. For all of these contributions, he was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1963, the Concordia University Sports Hall of Fame in 1967 and the McGill University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1997.

Shaughnessy was also a great baseball player and manager. Moreover, from 1936 to 1960, he was president of the International League, a baseball league composed of teams affiliated with the MLB. Under his presidency, the colour barrier was broken in baseball. Indeed, in October 1945, the Montreal Royals signed Jackie Robinson.

Robinson became the first Black player in an MLB-affiliated league the following year. Shaughnessy was a positive ally in Jackie Robinson’s integration into the Montreal Royals according to the Society for American Baseball Research. Shaughnessy was also inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983 for his contributions to the development of baseball in Canada. Today, he is still the only person to be a member of both the Canadian Football and Baseball Halls of Fame.

The Shaughnessy Cup: a university football tradition

The Shaughnessy Cup was first played between McGill University and Loyola College in 1969, following Frank Shaughnessy’s passing. Since Sir George Williams University and Loyola College merged in 1975, McGill and Concordia have contested the cup yearly at the Percival Molson Stadium. Historically, the Stingers have had the upper hand over the Redbirds in the Shaughnessy Cup. Concordia leads the cup’s head-to-head win tally 29-18 and 29-23-1 when including the results of Loyola College’s games.

What to expect this year

The Stingers won the last two Shaughnessy Cup games in overtime and also beat McGill the last five games they faced them, since September 2021. 

Only looking at these results, one may think Concordia will easily defeat McGill. However, nothing is that simple in sports, and especially not in the Stingers-Redbirds rivalry. For example, in last year’s Shaughnessy Cup, the Stingers came back from behind three times to force overtime. The two teams also faced each other last month—it was a more straightforward affair for Concordia, winning the Shrine Bowl 42-24 without McGill ever taking the lead. 

The Stingers hope for a similar game on Oct. 20. Following their dominant victory 39-7 against the Sherbrooke Vert & Or on Oct. 14, a Shaughnessy Cup victory would also guarantee a third place in the standings for the Stingers, which would be a successful season for the football program.

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News

Know Your Rights: Housing Discrimination

Graphic by Carleen Loney / The Concordian

How students can avoid a breach of their rights as tenants.

When searching for apartments online, it is common to see ads where landlords demand that tenants must be employed full-time, must have a guarantor, cannot have children or pets (often regardless of whether they are used for overcoming a disability), and many other examples that infringe on peoples’ rights.

Due to dominant patterns of income disparity and socio-economic disadvantage linked to systemic racism, sex discrimination, and colonization, the result of this kind of tenant selection disproportionately excludes members of groups facing discrimination and gives preference to white, able-bodied households without children.

Many landlords believe it is economically savvy for them to cherry-pick their tenants based around racist and colonial prejudices. Quebec Minister Responsible for Housing, France-Élaine Duranceau, in a 2023 CBC interview, stated that “The landlord owns the building, they invested in it and took the risks, and it should be up to them to decide who lives there.” This sentiment is inherently unethical, displaying plainly that our current housing system is not intended to house everyone—landlords alone decide who is deserving of this human right.

With the possibility of Bill-31’s approval approaching, a housing legislation that would give landlords the ability to refuse lease transfers without giving any reason, it is all the more important to remember that it is the groups vulnerable to discrimination that feel these negative effects more powerfully. Already, there is a serious gap in housing accessibility—CTV News stated in 2022 that an Indigenous person living in Montreal is “27 times more likely to be homeless than a non-Indigenous person.”

This housing inaccessibility is only slated to rise as rents increase unsustainably. The Regroupement des Comités Logements et Associations de Locataires du Québec (RCLALQ) analyzed 51,000 rental listings in 2022, and they found that Quebec’s rental prices rose by an average of nine per cent from 2021, with studio apartments having increased by a staggering 19 per cent. To combat these worsening conditions, protests led by housing advocacy organizations have erupted across Montreal.

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Sports

Inside Concordia’s Dojo

The dojo is open to all Concordia students (Photo by Lucas Marsh)

A brief look at the Samurai of Concordia.

On a crisp fall evening, Concordia students and alumni alike slowly filter into Le Gym on Concordia’s Loyola Campus. As they enter, they take off their shoes, bow in respect, lace up their Bōgu, then engage in a tradition that spans across the centuries and continents.

This September marked the beginning of the season for Concordia’s Shidokan Kendo and Iaido Club. The modern Japanese Martial Arts have been steadily growing in popularity in Canada since the late seventies. 

Sensei Santoso Hanitijo has been teaching martial arts at Concordia for nearly three decades. Originally graduating from Concordia with a degree in finance, sensei Hanitijo returned to his alma mater a decade later to co-found the Shidokan Kendo and Iaido Club.

Ceremonial sparring masks lined up at the end of practice, each mask is unique to the student’s personality.

“After I joined the kendo club, we [co-founders of the club] met,” he said. “He was a judo instructor who tried to promote Iado at Concordia. So that’s why we talked and were brought into the Kendo club.”

Practice times are divided between Kendo, which involves two opponents armed with bamboo sparring swords engaging in sparring matches, and Iaido, the act of practicing form and balance with a blunted katana. 

Both martial arts can trace their origins back to the Kenjutsu school, the fighting technique that was practiced by Samurai of the Edo period. However, the modern practice of Kendo and Iaido grew in popularity during the early 1950’s, when restrictions on traditional martial arts in Japan were lifted following the end of the American occupation. 

Shidokan culture then spread to Montreal in the 1970’s, with Japanese immigrants such as Sensei Funamoto bringing the sport with them.

“He was one of the Sensei’s that started Kendo in Quebec,” said Sensei Hanitijo. “I [was] the next generation. I’ve been his student and since then, we carry on and spread.”

Sensei Hanitijo said the club has been able to persist and grow over the years due to their dedicated group of practitioners.“Fortunately, I think my students over the years have been very devoted to making this happen,” he said. “Of course, most of them started coming to Concordia as a student.”

While the club remains open to people outside of the university, the majority of the club’s practitioners are Concordia alumni, such as Evleen Hanitiju. Like Senesi Hanitijo, Hanitiju started practising kendo in 2009 while she was an undergrad student at Concordia, seeing both the physical and emotional benefits that the sport has to offer.

Two students engaging in a sparring match called katas.

“It’s great for not only the physical aspect but also the spiritual aspect as well,” said Hanitiju. “And it’s just a wonderful community. It’s more like a family, rather than just a club.”

This community is based on principles of respect and persistence, Hanitiju said, which is the reason she keeps coming back after all these years. 

“From the moment you enter into the dojo, you start with respect, not only just for your peers but also for yourself,” Hanitiju said.“And then when you are fighting even if you come across a defeat, you just have to have a respectful mindset”.

Sensei Hanitijo overseeing the training of new kendo students.


The Shidokan Club meets every Thursday evening and Saturday morning at Le Gym on Concordia Loyola Campus. Concordia students can register for classes through the club page or can find further information on the club’s website.

ALL PHOTOS BY LUCAS MARSH

Categories
Arts and Culture Community Culture

Art and agency: the misuse of inclusion

Indigenous fashion panel held at 4th space. Photo by Emma Bell/The Concordian

The Indigenous Futures Resource Centre has created an online space to nuance the conversation on cultural appropriation.

In recent discussions surrounding reconciliation, inclusion itself has emerged as a contentious notion. The term inherently implies an imbalance of power between those at the centre who hold the authority to make decisions and those on the periphery who are left at their mercy. Inclusion can easily be mishandled—even organizations with the best of intentions can end up unwittingly tokenizing and exploiting their Indigenous employees. True reconciliation is the democratisation of decision-making, where inclusion efforts are no longer necessary, because everyone is already seated at the table. 

In her article “Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto,” Indigenous artist and fashion designer Sage Paul discusses the urgency of addressing cultural appropriation in the fashion industry in all of its subtleties. It is increasingly important to have a discerning eye. As overt, public incidents become less common, the problem continues to fester behind the scenes. For example, Indigenous artists are being included in projects only to find that their presence is nothing more than the company’s effort to reach a diversity quota. Their names become stamps of authenticity on designs in which they were granted little, if any, creative control over. 

Paul’s article can be found among a growing collection of Indigenous scholarship surrounding this issue on the Promoting and Protecting Indigenous Arts (PPIA) website, which was recently launched as an expansion of the original 2021 print publication. To celebrate the launch on Sept. 26, Concordia’s 4th Space held a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Heather Igloliorte, along with Paul, visual artist Nico Williams and fashion designer Julie Grenier as guests to discuss the impacts of cultural appropriation on Indigenous fashion. The panel noted the long history of Indigenous communities’ participation in the global fashion world as fur traders, and the importance of remembering this history. They also tackled some of the unseen issues facing Indigenous artists and designers, such as crossing the country borders without having their materials confiscated or their customers’ fear of openly wearing their designs. The panellists recalled instances where their non-indigenous customers would admit to only wearing their jewellery or clothing in private, worried that wearing the designs in public would attract negative attention. 

Indigenous fashion panel held at 4th space. Photo by Emma Bell/The Concordian

The PPIA website is a living resource. It provides a space for new scholarship to be placed in dialogue with existing conversations to build a cohesive body of knowledge that is readily accessible to all. “This project unites the wisdom and experiences of Indigenous artists, scholars, cultural stakeholders and knowledge keepers who demonstrate a profound commitment to educating the public,” said Igloliorte. Visit the website at https://ppia-ppaa.ca/ to learn more.
The full panel discussion and Q&A session is also available to watch online on the 4th Space’s YouTube channel here.

Categories
Opinions

The rollercoaster of being an international student

Aimee Becerril, Haeri Jang, and Steven Ye. Photo by Lara Kaafarani/The Concordian

International students are thriving in the midst of adversity.

Montreal is known for being one of the best student cities in North America. With its beautiful diversity, universities in both English and French and a vibrant environment, students from around the world often decide to move to Canada. However, how far is reality from the outside picture? 

Many international students have struggled to secure affordable student housing while still in their country. Some got lucky and found a room in the on-campus student residence, but those on the waiting list who never got a spot had to quickly find an alternative before they arrived. With the rent increase, students are left with the option of either living in a neighborhood that requires over an hour of commute to class or squeezing in with strangers in a small apartment close to campus.

“It was very difficult to find a place to rent because many scammers on Facebook groups were advertising fake houses”, says Haeri Jang, an international student from South Korea. Students from abroad have been scapegoated for housing shortage for the longest time. 

Universities should be mindful of the international students’ residency before giving admissions to thousands. For example, Concordia University collaborated with three off-campus student residencies, YWCA, EVO and Campus1 MTL, to ensure that as many Concordia students as possible have a place to stay.

Another issue that international students face is the increase in tuition fees. The Quebec fees have increased by 3 per cent compared to 2022. International students are charged over thrice the fee Canadians and permanent residents pay per semester. The fees that international students pay consist of the Quebec rate, the international supplement and a 10 per cent international supplement. Concordia University offers scholarships and bursaries to help international students fund their studies. Students can also apply for scholarships funded by EduCanada through their website.

Having started my journey at Concordia University as an international student in 2019, I can confidently say that Concordia has given me all the tools I needed to navigate through the semester and my personal life. The service that has been the most beneficial to me is counseling. I have had eight consecutive sessions with one of the psychologists at Concordia to help me with social anxiety and I have learned many strategies to cope with anxious feelings.

I lived most of my life in Nigeria and Lebanon, and I remember constantly feeling agitated because I always thought my future was doomed. Ever since my move to Canada, the endless opportunities that have presented to myself have truly helped me truly pushed me out of my comfort zone. As a result, my confidence in social situations has improved tremendously.

The path of leaving your country of origin is complex, and it comes with many tears, losses, pain and sacrifices. In the long term, I firmly believe that it will be worth it because we are now given the opportunity to grow in ways we didn’t have back home. 

One of the main struggles that international students face when living in a bilingual city is being unable to communicate in French. This also raises the question of whether they are willing to work in Quebec after graduating since French is mandatory. 

Steven Ye, majoring in political science, says that he is currently learning French alone, and he has been getting some help from his French friends. Ye is presently applying to part-time jobs and hopes to get one in an anglophone area.

International students at Concordia have access to all services offered by the International Student Office (ISO) in the GM building downtown. Some of the services are getting legal advice, renewing CAQ and study permits, orientations and workshops on immigration. 

Aimee Becerril, a studio art student from Mexico, says that the ISO and the John Molson International Committee in John Molson have been the most helpful. The conference held by the JIC helped Becerril learn how to open a bank account, use the STM and gain money management tips, especially regarding grocery shopping.

Studying abroad sounds like a dream to many. The journey starts by feeling homesick, scared, and confused. Then, it continues with questioning our identity and sense of belonging. Finally, after years of going through a series of culture shock, language barriers, and evolving in a new environment, international students will later realize that they are stronger than they think and have what it takes to overcome any obstacle.

Categories
Football Rugby Sports

Concordia Stingers Legends Inducted into Stingers Sports Hall of Fame

The Concordia Stingers home basketball court. Kaitlynn Rodney/The Concordian

Concordia held their annual Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Sept. 24

At the downtown Sofitel Montreal Golden Mile Hotel, the Concordia Stingers’ annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place in front of hundreds. Concordia alumni were inducted by different categories with current students in the crowd to support. In this year’s ceremony, Concordia inducted four athletes, one builder, and one team. 

On the ballot, an “athlete” is defined as a student-athlete who displayed outstanding athletic performances in their respective sport. A “builder” is an individual, coach or administrator who had a positive impact on Concordia athletics. A “team” is a roster in Stingers history that will be remembered for their performance and significant contributions to its sport.

Dave Miller-Johnston (left) with his Hall of Fame plaque. Photo courtesy of Joe Dresner.

On that 1998 Stingers football team was Dave Miller-Johnston, one of the athlete inductees in this year’s ceremony. Miller-Johnston went down in Concordia sports history after kicking the Atlantic Cup-winning field goal to send the Stingers to their first National Championship Final. While Miller-Johnston was the MVP following the game-winning kick with a minute remaining, he credited his teammates and coaches for the team’s success in his acceptance speech. “To my teammates–though it is me receiving this award today, this is really a shared celebration,” Miller-Johnston said emotionally. “We did this together. Winning or losing on and off the football field, we kept pushing each other. I want to thank you for inspiring me, pushing me and challenging me.”

Then there was Richard Mackay, graduate of Concordia in 1958 and athlete inductee in 2023. Mackay is known for his contribution to the 1957-58 men’s basketball team, then known as the Sir George Williams College Georgians, who won their fourth championship overall. That team, coached by the legendary Mag Flynn, got inducted into the Stingers Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. To honour his late coach, Mackay made generous donations to the basketball team since 2021 totalling $200,000.

Sheila Turner was the next athlete to be inducted in this year’s ceremony. As a member of the women’s rugby team between 1992 and 1994, Turner won provincial championships in all three years she played for Concordia. The 1994 team that Turner was a part of also got inducted this year. They were the only team to hold this honour in 2023. Turner graduated from Concordia in 1995, then went on to coach the Stingers in 1996, bringing more success and championships to the school in later years.

Inducted as an athlete in 2011, George Lengvari is now in the Hall of Fame as a builder in 2023. As part of the 1962-63 Loyola men’s basketball team, Lengvari helped the team with the first annual Ottawa-St. Lawrence title that season. Once he graduated in 1963, Lengvari paid back his time at Concordia as well as at McGill University. In 2021, Lengvari donated $1 million to each of his alma maters’ basketball programs in hopes of growing the sport at both institutions. Lengvari goes down in Concordia history as the only member of the Stingers Sports Hall of Fame inducted as a builder, athlete and team member.

Carol Ann Tull gives her Hall of Fame Speech. Photo courtesy of Joe Dresner.

To conclude the ceremony, Carol Ann Tull was inducted into the hall of fame as an athlete. Tull played on the Stingers women’s basketball team between 1996 and 2000, winning an award as the Defensive Player of the Year, as well as two Most Valuable Player awards in Quebec women’s basketball. In her acceptance speech, Tull thanked her teammates and coaches for all they did to get her to this point. Tull, a university sports legend and an inspiration to many, shared this note of motivation to close out her speech: “Together, we have proven that when passion aligns with purpose, any individual can achieve the most extraordinary feat.”

All the inductees should be proud of accomplishing the achievements they did. Their contributions to the Stingers are now etched in Concordia University history.

Categories
Interview Music

Into the Mind of Bane

Apple Music

Concordia student Justin Tatone talks about his new album “BANE & BLESSING”.

On Sept. 29, Justin Tatone finally released his latest album BANE & BLESSING, a collaborative effort with his friend and frequent collaborator, rapper Benedict Tan. Released after a three-year wait, the project is an ambitious opus that fuses rage-rap with a myriad of other musical genres and styles.

Tatone credits American rapper Playboi Carti’s second album, Whole Lotta Red, as the primary influence for BANE & BLESSING. It paved the way for the rage-rap wave which was popularized by artists like Yeat and Trippie Redd in 2021. The genre’s characteristic sawtooth synths, 8-bit melodies, and heavy bass are all prominent on Tatone’s new album and originally constituted the entire soundtrack. 

BANE does not juxtapose rage rap with other styles and seamlessly fuses them together, resulting in unique, electrified versions of these subgenres. The foundation of Tatone’s creative collective Xion in 2022 granted him new collaborators and ideas that would break the project’s one-dimensionality, venturing into sounds like grunge and synth-wave on “BANE’S THEME,” and dance-pop on “BLEACH ON ME.” “I needed things like that [other styles] to offset the agedness of those harsh rage tones,” Tatone explained. 

Tatone fully embraces the album’s low-budget production and DIY approach, with most of the record having been recorded in his bedroom. He notably boasts on “BREAK THE FABRIC OF TIME” that he is out-rapping his competition, despite using BandLab (a free music production app for mobile devices). “When you’re stripped back in terms of budget and materials you have to wear that on your sleeve,” he said. 

The artist invokes XXXTENTACION and Ski Mask the Slump God as examples of this mentality, given their inclusion of heavy distortion and room tone into their music. Tatone also praises the Baltimore-based rapper JPEGMAFIA, whose overblown mixing helped Tatone embrace the imperfections of his own.

BANE & BLESSING is a persona piece where Tatone and Tan portray two titular characters. “Bane is vain, indulgent in the iconography and gluttony of hip-hop. Blessing is woke and open-minded, he is the voice of reason,” Tatone explained. His character represents the current, bravado-heavy side of hip-hop, whereas Tan embodies the genre’s woke, conscious side. 

Tatone’s lyricism is also filled with ridiculous one-liners like “You’re Boots, I’m Dora” (“MASK ON!”) and “Facebook moms love me like I’m Candy Crush” (“FANS / NEVER GOING BACK”), which fulfill his attempt at taking himself less seriously. “People are going to criticize you anyway, so might as well make it a fun time,” he said. These lyrics are guaranteed laughs from the audience but also help him loosen up. This idea relates to the masks in the album’s artwork, a motif that has been used to promote BANE & BLESSING since early 2022. “It helps to have a mask: I can pick at myself and make silly comments but still feel confident.”

Jaden Warren, a design student at Concordia, served as the creative director for the album, directing the art and designing a colour palette. The final album cover is AI-generated by Tatone and received praise from Warren as it lived up to his envisioned aesthetic. The rapper sees the AI cover as an extension of the album’s technological nature. “Bane only exists in the digital realm,” he claimed. Tatone sees no issue with artistic integrity as he believes he successfully divorced himself from his work on this album, allowing himself to embrace AI as an artistic medium. 

Tatone cites collaboration as key to both his and the album’s artistic evolutions: “As a creative person, you can get stuck in a silo of thinking and have tunnel vision because you’re in love with your work.” The album notably contains guest features from Xion member E.Sko, punk-rapper KPTN, and rage-rap artist KeBenjii, all of whom hail from Montreal. A guest feature from Atlanta-based rapper Zoot was also secured through a mutual friend.

Overall, BANE & BLESSING is a highly ambitious and creative experiment that pushes the raging sound to new extremes while bringing different artists, ideas, and creative approaches into the mix. “It’s heavily derivative but an original interpolation of the culture. That’s what I’m most proud of,” Tatone concluded.

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Arts Arts and Culture Student Life

Celebrating queer joy at FASA’s cabaret

Dancer Dream Louboutin performs at Sala Rossa. Photo by Emma Bell / The Concordian.

Students gathered at Sala Rossa for a night of performances, tarot readings and dancing in support of Concordia University’s Centre for Gender Advocacy.

In the face of the finely-veiled bigotry that is festering in and beyond Canada, the LGBTQ2S+ community continues to exhibit unwavering resilience toward discrimination. Mere days after the “1 Million March 4 Children”—a euphemistic name for what was, unquestionably, an outright demonstration of anti-trans hatred—Concordia’s Fine Arts Student Alliance (FASA) held their final orientation event: their Queer Cabaret.   

The event was held at La Sala Rossa on Montréal’s bustling St. Laurent Boulevard. The venue was full of celebratory energy with flashy, colorful lights drenching the space in reds and blues as the attendees let loose. The performers unleashed their uninhibited joy through spectacles of self-determination—dance, vogue, drag and acrobatics. The audience, full of awe and pride, cheered them on.  

Students compete on stage for best performance at Sala Rossa. Photo by Emma Bell / The Concordian

As burlesque dancers took to the stage and competed for best performance, tarot readers told fortunes in a mysterious booth off to the side of the dance floor. After the performances, DJ Mcherry’s set filled the room with a club-like atmosphere, welcoming the audience to take to the stage and dance the night away. 

The Cabaret was the second completely sold-out event held by FASA this month. The overwhelming turn-out demonstrated the student body’s ardent support of LGBTQ2S+ members and their willingness to show up in support. This echoed the same hopeful numbers that came out to counter-protest the 1 Million March.

“I think this shows the amazing community that we have in Montréal,” said a FASA organiser to the crowd. “The best way to move forward and keep each other strong is through community organising, showing solidarity and taking care of everyone around you, especially trans and nonbinary people and everyone who felt affected by the 1 Million March.”

Students gather at Sala Rossa for FASA’s queer cabaret night. Photo by Emma Bell / The Concordian

What emerged from the evening was a reinforced belief in the power of collective energy and joy as revolutionary forces. As we continue to battle injustice, we must continue to prioritise our physical and mental health.

The event hosted a fundraiser for Concordia’s Centre for Gender Advocacy, whose mission is to provide a safe haven for the university’s queer community. The organisation participated in the event with a pop-up table full of resources for students, ranging from free condoms and pamphlets on safe sex practices to guides on how to access gender-affirming care at Concordia. 

“We will continue to do everything in our power as a small organisation to provide services, programming and advocacy that helps as many people as we can live safely and boldly in their agency,” stated Concordia’s Centre for Gender Advocacy in a recent announcement on instagram. 

Learn more about the centre on instagram @centreforgenderadvocacy or at their website.

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Arts and Culture Community

Hamidou’s harvest fosters connection at Concordia Food Market

Hamidou Maiga in his garden behind Hingston Hall on a warm afternoon Sept. 11, 2023. Sunflowers dominate the backdrop as Maiga looks towards the plants that he has nurtured from seedling to maturation and are now ready to harvest. Photo by Julia Israel. 

A gardener’s effort to provide vegetables from his native homeland to his newfound community.

Towering sunflowers were in their full glory as Hamidou Maiga walked towards his garden, bucket and scissors in hand. A dozen alternating rows of plants made up the garden, nestled behind Hingston Hall on Concordia’s Loyola campus: miniature red pops of gooseberry tomatoes, stout white eggplants and red okra with yellow hibiscus-like blooms. 

Hamidou sells his produce at Concordia’s weekly farmer’s market to share his relationship to agriculture with others. Maiga, age 48, carefully chose each plant from ancestral and African varieties that are rarely sold in Montreal.

“I’m from Niger and I wanted some vegetables that I was searching for and that I didn’t find when I came here,” Maiga said. “There are a lot of Afro-descendants here in Quebec and, like me, they are searching for food from the continent.” 


His connection to gardening reaches back three generations—there has always been a field or garden somewhere in his family. Maiga started his project Hamidou Horticulture 10 years ago. His mission is to respond to the demand of African vegetable varieties in Montreal and to teach others how to do the same through a diploma course that he offers in partnership with the university.

Maiga speaks with The Concordian while making bushels of freshly picked radishes to sell at the Concordia Farmer’s Market on boulevard Maisonneuve between Bishop and Mackay streets on Sept. 13, 2023. Photo by Julia Israel. 

“The ancestral [varieties] weren’t grown a lot because the grocery wanted some vegetables that had the perfect size that could be kept on the shelf for six weeks,” Maiga said. Though they may appear odd to some, he suggested, “Why not go for the one with the more taste and the more nutritive qualities?”

Concordia student Jorane Robert purchased a tray of mouse melons for $5, Maiga’s best-selling product at the market this year. Robert said she’d much rather support local farmers than buy produce that is shipped from far away. Undeterred by the higher price point compared to what she finds at grocery chains, she said: “It’s worth it because he’s telling me how they got it.” Robert looked forward to eating the miniature melons “like popcorn” on the commute home.

A volunteer at the Hamidou Horticulture’s booth holds a handful of mouse melons for a prospective buyer to sample. Photo by Julia Israel.

Hamidou’s satisfaction comes from sharing this interest to know where our food comes from with customers at the market. “I feel like we need to be more farmers,” he said. “This is the reason why we have the course.”


Maiga will continue to sell his produce at the Concordia Farmer’s Market every Wednesday at the Sir George William campus until Nov. 1. Registration for the class given this fall is open and will begin on Sept. 24.

Maiga’s African red okra for sale in a basket at the Concordia Farmer’s Market. Photo by Julia Israel.
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