McGill University Frosh Recap ⋆ University Apartments

The excitement that builds up during frosh week always sets the stage for the upcoming school year. Like all events in 2020, Frosh was canceled and a whole cohort of first years didn’t get on campus at all, raising the stakes for Frosh 2021. Of course, it also looked and felt a bit different from past Frosh weeks due to safeguards for COVID-19.

Orientation events weren’t permitted on campus, and McGill itself didn’t do their usual coordinated Frosh. Instead, smaller individual Frosh Faculty groups organized COVID-19 compliant events and some of them banded together for coalition events.

In this light, it was more grass roots, organic, and oddly chaotic than Frosh in years past – and the spirits were higher for all the efforts students went to to celebrate a return to campus and initiate their new peers. University Apartment took to the streets with Frosh groups and local venues to welcome Froshies to Montreal and McGill, and we had a great time connecting with new and returning students. After a year of remote learning, quiet lecture halls and virtual events, the excitement amongst McGill Froshies was palpable and the atmosphere was positive and upbeat.

As a sponsor of Frosh Week, we hosted multiple activations to welcome first year students to McGill and introduce ourselves. Through interactive events, our team was able to hear from students directly, helping us in our mission to develop beautiful spaces tailored specifically to McGill students.

Management Montreal Crawl

On day 1 of Frosh week, 500 McGill Management students participated in the Management Crawl and spent their Friday afternoon running around the city from one pub to the next. We offered a rest-stop at Jeanne Mance Park during the event for students to relax and grab a bite to eat before hitting the town once again.

Entertainment consisted of some super intense games of beer pong and drunken debate; froshies faced off and argued about some ridiculous hypotheticals like who would make a better omelette, Justin Bieber or Justin Trudeau? As you can imagine, we were not disappointed in their hot takes!

Arts & Sci Movie Night

Later that night, we welcomed Arts & Sci Froshies to Cinema Du Parc for movie night, complete with popcorn and, of course, bingo! We played a few fast-paced games of Surviving McGill bingo and Froshies got a taste of what’s to come in their upcoming uni experience. Stumbled down St Laurent Drunk? Running for a SSMU position? Went to class hungover? Well, if those were on your bingo card, you were that much closer to claiming a DoorDash or Amazon gift card!

Two students sitting in a movie theatre with an Amazon gift card

Arts Frosh Crawl @ Muzique

Arguably the best stop on Arts Frosh Pub Crawl was at Muzique, it had a real party vibe. Our team had a blast singing the night away under disco balls and strobe lights while hosting wild dance-offs. We even had two groups (17 & 24) battle it out right in front of us! Arts Frosh brought their A-game and showed off their go-to moves on the dance floor. Of course the best dancers of the night didn’t walk away empty handed… Don’t forget to check out our TikTok to catch the killer dance moves! 🕺💃

Froshies taking shots at the club

Arts Frosh Crawl @ Jeanne Mance Park

As much as we wish we could dance the WHOLE day away, it never hurts to take a bit of a break. As part of Arts Frosh Crawl, we set up a chill rest station at Jeanne Mance Park where Froshies had a chance to relax, grab a bite to eat and chat with our team about our exciting new LeMILDORÉ building going up right on Peel, and our #SurvivingMcGill Contest. We loved chatting with students about their first few days on campus, everyone was stoked!

Student playing beer pong

Arts & Sci Treasure Hunt

At the last stop of the Arts & Sci Treasure Hunt, Froshies made their way to 2025 Peel St., the location of our forthcoming LeMILDORÉ student apartments (apply now to rent for May 1, 2022!)

Here, we gave froshies the final clues to solve their scavenger hunt riddle… What were our clues you may ask? The oh-so-secret Krusty Krab Krabby Patty recipe of course! What else?! The Arts & Sci Froshies proved to be dedicated Spongebob fans and blew our team away with their childhood TV show memories. As they gathered that final clue to solve the treasure hunt, we had great conversations with Froshies right by the LeMILDORÉ worksite.

Coalition Crawl

For our final day at McGill Frosh, a coalition of faculties banded together to put on one of the biggest events in all of frosh week. More than 800 students including Arts & Sci, Education, Music, Arts, Management, Physical Therapy, Engineering, and Mac Campus bar hopped in small groups across the city.

Students visited University Apartments at Majesthé for a rowdy and entertaining event filled with everything from bingo, impromptu karaoke, faculty chant competitions, trivia games and hilarious drunken debates! Coalition Crawl was the perfect event to wrap up our team’s time at McGill Frosh 2021.

Our Purpose

It was invigorating to be at the centre of the action as we know from our current tenants how difficult the last year has been for students at a crucial time in their lives. Seeing vibrant first years, frosh leaders and coordinators full of hope, joy and curiosity reminded us all why we do what we do.

LeMILDORÉ is Montreal’s first building that is built from the ground up specifically for students. Just steps from McGill University, we hope it to be the first stepping stone in demonstrating that the solution to the student housing crisis can be homegrown, affordable, and sustainable, while supporting local innovation (Tomesco).

Cheers to all the frosh organizers, leaders, coordinators and McGill Froshies for a great return to campus! You can head to our full McGill Frosh 2021 gallery on Facebook for more photos!