Photograph of the Loyola Quad where Snowyola will be held on Jan. 19. Photo by Savanna Craig.
“Snowyola” will take place on Jan. 19 at the Loyola Quad
The Arts and Science Federation of Associations (ASFA) welcomes Concordia students to “Snowyola,” a winter orientation inviting new and returning students to enjoy music, raffle prizes, food and music at the Loyola Quad on Jan. 19 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
“It is a reality that the majority of new students miss the chance to attend orientation events organized by the university or their faculty association,” said ASFA vice-president of academic and Loyola affairs Rachel Rammal, because these events are usually held during the summer months. She said this can leave students with a small window of opportunity to become accustomed to university life, by meeting new people and making new friends.
Rammal said this event was initially inspired to bring more life to the Loyola campus during the winter and to raise money and knowledge about the issue of homelessness during the winter. “Our aim is to donate at least 25 per cent of the ticket sales revenue to the Dans la rue foundation,” said Rammal. She added that 100 per cent of the proceeds from their pom-pom hats sales will go to the Dans la rue organization, which provides aid to homeless at-risk youth.
“We hope that with Snowyola we can help reduce some of the anxiety that comes with starting university for the first time,” said Rammal, describing Snowyola as a carnival-type of event. By showing up to the event, participants can expect to be accompanied by music, food, beverages, and raffle prizes, said Rammal.
She said the event will give students the chance to make new connections and learn more about the different faculty associations, as all faculty associations have been invited. Students will also be able to enjoy Loyola’s transformed, snow-filled campus during the winter.
“With this activity, Snowyola, ASFA wanted to ensure that incoming students are also made to feel comfortable,” said ASFA VP of internal affairs and administration Julia Sutera Sardo. “Loyola campus covered in fairy lights with a ton of hot chocolate is definitely a great way for this to be done.”
“For returning students, the situation is a bit different in the sense that, often, many need an energy boost come the winter semester or feel demoralized after not getting the fall GPA they wanted,” said Rammal. For others, the event can be a boost “get back to the grind” for the second semester, said Rammal.
“With an event that celebrates the new semester like Snowyola, we hope to give students an opportunity to enjoy themselves with their friends before they are submerged with assignments and midterms,” said Rammal.
According to Rammal, the event fully came together halfway through the fall semester. “The Loyola and social committees decided to join their forces and host the event together to maximize the success of Snowyola,” said Rammal.
Sutera Sardo said Snowyola is a precursor to more social events and workshops that will be held in the winter semester. ASFA has been criticized for not being as active as usual on campus during the fall semester, however, Sutera Sardo said ASFA is open to all feedback and critique from students.
“Our goals for the semester are centered around engaging our peers and providing them with various tools and opportunities,” said Sutera Sardo.
Snowyola takes place on Jan. 19 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Quad on the Loyola campus.
The west-end campus opened its doors a hundred years ago. Photo by Savanna Craig.
The Loyola campus celebrated the establishment’s 100th anniversary and the harvest season
Concordia University celebrated the end of the harvest season and Loyola campus’ 100th anniversary on Oct. 22 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The day was filled with family-friendly activities, including fitness classes, games and a concert, as well as food and drinks provided by the Hive Café and Seasons Catering, Concordia’s in-house catering services.
The west-end campus opened its doors a hundred years ago. Photo by Savanna Craig.
Despite the heavy rain, people of all ages joined the festivities inside the lobby of the Vanier Library, as well as in the Hive Café Solidarity Cooperative. People were able to buy produce from the Farmers’ Market, see the football game where the Concordia Stingers played against the McGill Redmen, and finally a concert in the Loyola Chapel featuring The Zara Strings performing music of Edwin Orion Brownell.
André Roy, the dean of Concordia’s faculty of arts and science, spoke on behalf of the Loyola campus and said the school was very proud to be celebrating 100 years. “From its Jesuit roots to the many local outreach projects we’re involved in today, Loyola has always played an important [role] in our community,” Roy said.
The official date of the anniversary was Sept. 23, but last Saturday was an occasion to celebrate the fall season and the 100-year milestone. Loyola College was originally a Jesuit college before being consolidated with Sir George Williams University and becoming Concordia University in 1974. The college was first established at the corner of Bleury and Ste-Catherine Street in 1896, but moved to the present west-end campus on Sherbrooke Street West in Notre-Dame-de-Grace in 1916. This is why 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment.
“This fall, as we mark the milestone anniversary, we are pleased to invite community members to celebrate with us,” said Roy. “Here’s to 100 more years of Loyola in NDG.”
The Loyola campus includes the Communications and Journalism building, the Richard J. Renaud Science Complex, the Vanier Library, and others.
Concordia students and staff raise money for student bursaries and scholarships
Students and staff of Concordia University participated in Concordia’s 27th annual Concordia Shuffle— a 6.5 km walk from the Sir George Williams campus to the Loyola campus aimed at raising money for student bursaries and scholarships.
Shufflers gathered at Loyola to be welcomed to the President’s Picnic. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
University spokesperson Chris Mota said over $78,000 and counting has been raised in pledges from this year’s shuffle. She added that it was “the best year for the shuffle.”
Concordia University News reported Concordians raised $65,000 during the shuffle for student bursaries and scholarships last year.
Shufflers arriving at Loyola campus. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
Participants can also bicycle, run or rollerblade during the shuffle, said Faye Corbin, a Shuffle volunteer and a member Concordia’s library staff. “This year we have a group of people who are using the Bixi [bikes], and [their group] actually donated bixis for the event,” she said.
Students must raise a minimum of $25 to participate, and for faculty and staff it’s $40, said Corbin. She added that people can gain sponsorships from family, friends, professors or even by sponsoring themselves.
Shufflers pose at the President’s Picnic. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
“With the minimum sponsorship, they get the shuffle kit, which [includes] a T-shirt. This year, it also [comes with] sunglasses with a few passes to restaurants, yoga and Le Gym,” said Corbin.
At the end of the walk, participants were welcomed with the “President’s Picnic” at the Loyola campus, where they were greeted with food and prizes.
Shufflers refuel after their 6.5 km from SGW campus to Loyola campus. Photo by Alex Hutchins.
“We always try to do the best we can and surpass the previous years,” said Valerie Roseman, organizer of the 27th shuffle and development officer of community programs. She said there was no set goal for how much money the Shuffle aimed to raise this year.
100 years ago, Loyola College boys dug in to WWI trenches and helped make history
By the time the back-to-school bells chimed at Loyola College (now Concordia University) in September of 1914, war had already begun to rage across the Atlantic.
The Great War, as it was soon to be called, began on July 28, 1914, just over a hundred years ago today. While the battlefields were half a world away from the classrooms where some of Montreal’s brightest young scholars spent their days, the ravages of the war certainly hit close to home.
In 1914, the first ever issue of the Loyola College Review, a comprehensive yearbook of all the events and best work of the school year, was published. Amid sketches for the much-anticipated expansion of the college to Montreal West (now Loyola Campus) and detailings of the college team’s athletic victories, the Review proudly gave accolades to the first of Loyola’s boys who put on their marching boots and left for the front lines of war.
A total of 32 students and alumni, who were fondly dubbed “Old Boys,” went to war in 1914.
At the time of press for the 1914-15 Loyola College Review, “some [had] been wounded, but as yet we have no deaths to mourn.” By the time of the armistice almost five years later, the death toll of Loyola boys reached 34 of the over 275 who went to the Front.
During the school year of 1914-15, the war was on everyone’s minds, but the outlook was optimistic. Even the Loyola Literary and Debating Society resolved against the statement “that the Germans have a better chance of winning this war than the Allies.”
By the time of publication of the following year’s Review, soldiers had dug into their trenches. France was under occupation and Canadians had fought in the First and Second Battles of Ypres, where gas warfare was infamously introduced by the Germans. Turkey had joined Germany, and they invaded Serbia. Italy switched its alliance and declared war on Germany. Germans used heavy artillery shellings in the Battle of Verdun. The Battle of the Somme saw a modest advance for the Allies, at the cost of over 1.2 million lives from both sides.
Back in Montreal, Loyola College felt the effects of its first war casualties.
The 1916 Review lists that 115 students and Old Boys had gone to join the fight, two were confirmed dead, and several were wounded.
The two confirmed dead were Loyola Old Boys Corporal Adrian McKenna and Lieutenant John Howe.
McKenna wrote a letter back home on Jan. 16, 1916 from Belgium, and relayed his excitement at being back with his regiment after an absence. He wrote:
“I know your eyes must be winking and jumping from trying to make this out, so I will say good-night. I am enclosing the stripes off my great-coat. I value them very much, as I have had them since I left Canada. The stains on them are blood from a man who was killed and whom I carried into the trench. Keep them for me till I get back.”
On Jan. 18, McKenna wrote to his brother from his “little dug-out” in the trenches:
“The Huns are quiet this morning. I guess they are getting sick of the war. I had a letter from mother yesterday. She seemed to take it for granted that I was coming home. Much as I appreciate your offer, I wouldn’t dream of going back until I have done my “bit,” and I am glad you didn’t do anything until you heard from me. . . . . . Good bye for a while. It’s dinner time, and I am starving, as usual.”
McKenna never would get back; goodbye for a while was indeed the final goodbye. On Jan. 19 McKenna was the first Loyola boy killed in action, shot in no man’s land just outside of Ypres, as he was carrying ammunition back to his troops.
The Review’s pages from that year, and the years that followed, would increasingly be filled with these first-hand accounts from friends and former classmates at war. The section of the Review dedicated to these “Letters from the Front” was nestled alongside short stories (some telling of war, some not), musings from college boys, prayers, and spreads for every academic, religious, and athletic club on campus. By the 1919 edition, these letters had all but given way to eulogies for fallen friends.
While the war was a constant presence on everybody’s minds at home, the boys at the front often thought of life at school.
A letter from Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) George J. Boyce to a former classmate, written March 7, 1916, said:
“Your thoughtfulness in sending me a Christmas box was very much appreciated indeed. Many thanks from an old friend years’ standing.
How is life with you? You are at the dear old College. God bless Loyola! May it constantly prosper and blossom out into one of the greatest Canadian Colleges! Already, in quality, Loyola leaves nothing to be desired. Let us hope that, with greater facilities, material welfare may be likewise.”
Boyce was awarded the Distinguished Service Order medal in 1919, and his praise as a high-ranking war hero was sung proudly in the Review time and time again during the war years.
The “greater facilities” Boyce describes are indeed the buildings for expansion to the college at what is now Loyola Campus.
Loyola College would be officially moved to the new campus on Sherbrooke Street the following year, in 1917. The old buildings at 68 Drummond St. would then become occupied by the Military Hospitals Commission as a convalescence home for returned soldiers.
Amidst this excitement for a new college stomping grounds, in 1917 the sombre cloud of war hung heavier than it had to this point.
From only two Loyola boys recorded as killed in action the previous year, the casualties marked a total of 14 killed, 24 wounded, and over 175 gone to fight by the time the 1917 Review was published.
The war raged full throttle in that year. The United States declared war on Germany, and joined the Allies on the battlefields. The British launched the third bloody Battle of Ypres. The concept of a “total war” became a reality as German troops bombed British civilians.
A letter from the editor on the first page of the 1916-17 Review reads:
“Our readers will note that a large portion of this number of the Review is fittingly dedicated to our boys at the Front, particularly those who have given their lives to the Empire’s cause. To their families and friends, who have sent us photographs and letters, we offer our sincere thanks.”
The enormous losses from the previous year’s Battle of the Somme had left a sizeable dent in the Allied forces manpower. In response, Canada passed The Military Service Act in August of 1917, which stated that the Canadian government could institute conscription across the country if the need was felt.
The school year of 1917-18 saw many students conscripted, and the college certainly felt the loss.
The Review’s first page for that year reads:
“The demands and alarms of war have played havoc with its ordinary staff and contributors. They have dropped the pen and seized the sword.”
Conscription summoned all young men aged 19 to 23 to the battlefields, where they were to report for duty by April 27. The college had no choice but to entirely close down the philosophy department. Bright young minds stopped debating Aristotle and Machiavelli, and instead prepared to take up battle. Final exams for the year were pushed forward to the beginning of April and the department remained closed from then until the end of the war.
That year, Loyola’s losses numbered 24, almost double from the previous year. Twenty-eight boys were wounded, and one soldier was reported missing, from a total of over 250 Loyola boys at the front.
The pages of the Review were filled with eulogies for fallen friends, death announcements, and letters of condolence. With so many gone to serve, it became harder to keep track of all the Loyola boys who had gone to the front. The Review urged any students or alumni who had news from friends or relatives at war to share it.
The 1918-19 Review was published just before the bells of peace rang out on Nov. 11. By the end of the war, Loyola College had sent over 275 boys off to the battlefields, 34 of whom would not return.
The maple trees that today line the perimeter of the campus on Sherbrooke Street were planted in honour of Loyola College’s fallen WWI heroes.
At 11 a.m. today, please take a moment to remember Corporal Adrian McKenna, Lieutenant John Howe, Colonel-Lieutenant Boyce, and the others who have studied in the classrooms you now do, walked the same halls, shared the same campus, and who fought in this and so many other wars to afford you the liberties you now enjoy.
All information and files c/o The Loyola College Review 1914-19. Special thanks to Concordia’s archives department.
Shuttle buses use the St-Jacques exit ramp to ferry students between ConU's two campuses. Photo by Madelayne Hajek
Shuttle buses use the St-Jacques exit ramp to ferry students between ConU’s two campuses. Photo by Madelayne Hajek
The newly reopened St-Jacques exit ramp off the westbound Ville-Marie Expressway , which is extremely curvy and potentially dangerous, is raising concerns for Concordia University’s students and staff.
“You enter the ramp quite violently when you’re doing 70 kilometres or more on the highway so it’s scary when you see that curve,” said Mathew Pizzanelli, a Concordia student who uses the ramp to get to the Loyola campus. “Suddenly you realize that you have to reduce your speed significantly.”
The St-Jacques St. exit reopened in late August after its reconstruction to make way for a vehicle entrance for the McGill University Health Centre super hospital, which is in the process of being built. The exit has been closed since February.
According to an article published in The Gazette, the new ramp is not a typical loop normally used for exit ramps but a reverse curve which forces drivers to take a steep right, a steep left followed by another right.
Concordia University’s shuttle bus service that transports students from the downtown campus to the Loyola campus in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce uses this exit daily. According to university spokesperson Chris Mota, Concordia has not received complaints from students or bus drivers about the new ramp, although shuttle bus driver Vince Torchia immediately noticed the potential dangers of driving too fast.
“It’s a big difference from the old one,” said Torchia. “As soon as you get there you really, really have to slow down or you can hit the wall.”
Yet, the main purpose of the ramp is to force cars merging onto St-Jacques St. to reduce their speed.
“It was a request by the City of Montreal,” said Caroline Larose, spokesperson for Transport Québec. “They wanted drivers to slow down before entering a residential area.”
While it is understandable that the city would want vehicles to slow down, Luis Amador, a Concordia University civil engineering assistant professor, believes this is an inappropriate measure.
“What do you do when you’re back on a street that is straight, if these curves have forced you to slow down? You will accelerate again, so it’s not going to help,” said Amador. “If they want vehicles to slow down on St-Jacques, they need to bring proper measures on St-Jacques.”
Amador suggested placing little poles or markers on the side of the road to give drivers the sensation of going faster than they actually are and said widening the sidewalks to produce more narrow lanes will force drivers to slow down when approaching the intersection.
He also explained that drivers only have about six seconds from the time they see the 45 kilometre speed limit sign that also indicates a curve. It then takes about three seconds to react.
“You see the sign indicating 45, you decide to slow down, you take the foot off the gas, and three seconds after you are on the curve,” said Amador.
This becomes more of a problem when drivers may miss the road signs due to poor visibility because of blowing snow, hail or fog. However, Amador emphasizes that the ramp is still under construction and more signs may be added.
Transport Québec hasn’t reported any accidents, though it’s been open for two months and typically accidents are looked at over a three-year period.
Amador advised caution to all drivers, including the Concordia shuttle bus, and encouraged those taking the ramp to fully follow the curves.
Montreal police were at Concordia’s Loyola campus to investigate a call concerning a bomb threat received by the university Wednesday morning.
The suspicious call came in at 10:25 a.m. and was later deemed to be a false alarm.
“There’s no danger to the community and it’s over,” said Concordia spokesperson Chris Mota. “Everyone is safe.”
The police operation ended at 12:25 p.m. and focused on securing the entire west-end campus, according to SVPM spokesperson Daniel Fortier.
“We used procedure as usual, so police officers verified the outside of all buildings, security guards checked inside the building for anything suspicious,” said Fortier. At least one police sniffer dog was seen on campus as well.
Mota said the police took the appropriate measures.
“The police and the university have an obligation to make sure everything is safe,” Mota added.
Commonly described by words such as “extremely uncomfortable” and “having to wait,” the 105 bus is used by many Concordia students use to get to the university’s Loyola campus in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.
“It makes me not want to go to school”, says Danica Bourque, a psychology student who takes the 105 bus everyday to get to class. “There’s nothing worse than a jam-packed bus.”
However, that may change in the near future as there has been some recent talk at the Société de transport du Montréal of reintroducing trolley buses in some areas of the city — and the 105 bus line is one they’re seriously considering for the switch.
Electric trolley buses roamed the streets of Montreal from 1937 to 1966, until they were replaced by diesel buses.
Trolleys are generally bigger, more comfortable and less noisy than an average diesel bus, not to mention environmentally friendly. The STM estimates the cost of converting the 105 from bus to trolley at $750 million.
“I think it’s an excellent idea if there’s more room in them, I’m tired of feeling like a sardine every morning and every night”, says Margarita Miseros, a psychology student who is frequently at the Loyola campus.
The Montreal Gazette reported that the 105, which runs up and down Sherbrooke St. west of Decarie Blvd., carries an average of 17,000 passengers per day. Concordia students and staff alike showed their discontent with the 105 this summer by starting a petition on the Internet to ask the STM to boost service on the line.
Despite passing every three minutes during rush hour, the 105 bus line often remains crowded, a problem that STM vice-chairman Marvin Rotrand says they’re trying to fix.
“On this particular line, every time we add service instead of easing crowding, it attracts more riders,” explained Rotrand in an article by the Montreal Gazette.
San Francisco and Moscow are two of the biggest cities that still rely on tramways for their public transportation.
The university is inviting media to tour its recently-completed facilities for performing arts this Thursday, but not all fine arts students are sharing in the enthusiasm over their new premises.
“It does not feel like home anymore,” said theatre and development student Deborah Forde. “In moving [downtown] we have lost our community, our green spaces, and we are split between performers here and designers [at Loyola]. It was a much more humane community; here it has become very bureaucratic.”
Since summer 2009, Concordia University has undertaken the task of progressively moving the theatre, music and dance departments from Loyola to Sir George Williams, temporarily relocating classes to the John Molson School of Business building for a few years until the entire Faculty of Fine Arts is moved to the Grey Nuns property.
Praised by the university for bringing students closer to Montreal’s artistic scene and offering state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, the move has left several students feeling skeptical of the advantages.
Most of all, Forde and her fine arts classmates occupying the 7th and 8th floor of the MB building, tend to feel like “invaders” in a building that often seems “hostile” to arts students.
“A good example of the friction between fine arts and business students is the door connecting the 6th and 7th floor that also leads to a lounge section and vending machines,” said theatre student Christine Bellerose. “Only business students can open the door because it is a ‘business floor’. They can come study here when it is quieter but we cannot go there.”
In the face of such problematic interactions, theatre professor Annabel Soutar and her students decided to put on a play called Theatre___Business: Fill Us In. The play, set to run from Feb.16 to 19 in the F.C. Auditorium, is an attempt to connect with their co-tenants, tackling the real issues and conflicts that come with theatre students occupying a business building.
Some, on the other hand, are mindful that the MB building is only a temporary solution until the Grey Nuns motherhouse project is completed.
“The transition from Loyola to SGW is both an overall improvement in our lives and still very much a work in progress,” said acting chair of the department of theatre, Mark Sussman. “The final destination will be great, but we’re not there yet.”
The MB locale also offers considerable improvements in terms of contacts with other departments, equipment and location.
“Loyola had a few more practice spaces than are now available,” said music professor Kevin Austin. “But JMSB is on the metro and saves most students from 30 to 90 minutes a day in travel time. The downtown facilities are new, clean, bright and can be booked online. None of this would be used to describe the situation at Loyola.”
Music student Tristan Henry agreed, saying he enjoyed having classes in spacious rooms with brand new equipment.
Built in 1871, the Grey Nuns Mother House is a major ongoing restoration project at Concordia, with an architecture and site planning competition set to launch this year.
