The McGill Arts Building, the oldest and most recognizable building at
McGill.
This refers to the rivalry, both in academics and athletics between
Queen's University and
McGill University, two prestigious universities in
Central Canada. Both schools have rich histories of academic excellence, as well as athletic competition and school pride.
The order of the names is by no means consistent; affiliates of either school will typically put their school's name first.
Similarities between Queen's and McGill
Queen's and McGill are very well-known inside
Canada, and are often familiar to people in other countries. Both are
public universities, funded in part by the government. Both were founded before
Canadian confederation, making them two of the oldest universities in Canada. They both have
Scottish origins and were founded under
Royal Charter from the
British Royal Family.
Queen's and McGill have been careful to preserve many parts of their proud history, retaining a number of
traditions that can seem archaic and bizarre to outsiders, and even to insiders.
The two schools are among the
wealthiest in Canada (Queen's and McGill have the third- and fourth-highest endowments per student in Canada, respectively). McGill and Queen's, along with the
University of Toronto, are sometimes considered the "
Big Three" Canadian universities because of age, international reputation, and high academic standards. Queen's and McGill are both members of the
G13, a grouping of the top research-intensive universities in Canada. Both schools compete in the annual "
Old Four" tournament, along with the University of Toronto and the
University of Western Ontario.
Hockey
The hockey rivalry between Queen's and McGill dates back to 1895, when on Feb. 2 Queen's defeated McGill 6-5 in Kingston, beginning what is the second-longest existing active rivalry in hockey history (after the Queen’s-
RMC rivalry, 1886).
While Queen's met
RMC in the first-ever intercollegiate hockey game 1886, McGill students formed the first organized hockey team in 1877 and played a significant role in the
creation and
development of
ice hockey.
Queen's students refer to matches against McGill as "Kill McGill" games, and usually show up in Montreal in atypically large numbers to cheer on the
Queen's Golden Gaels hockey team. In 2007, McGill students came in bus-loads to cheer on the
McGill Redmen, occupying nearly a third of Queen's Jock Harty Arena.
Football
Until 2000, "Kill McGill" was actually a
football game. In 2001, Canadian university athletic conferences were reorganized (Queen's joined the
Ontario University Athletics association, McGill joined the
Quebec Student Sports Federation), ending the longstanding football rivalry which dated back to 1884.
[1].
At these games, Queen's University students were known to dye themselves purple with cell dye, which lasts for several days. Queen's supporters would chant "Kill McGill," to which the McGill side would traditionally answer, "Queen's fuck sheep" (a reference to Kingston's more pastoral nature compared to downtown Montreal).
Rowing: The Queen's-McGill Challenge
The Challenge Blade, awarded annually to the Varsity Men's Crew that wins the Queen's-McGill Challenge Boatrace
The Lorne Gales Challenge Cup, awarded annually at the Queen's-McGill Challenge to the school that earns more aggregate points (the overall winner)
The longstanding Queen's-McGill rowing rivalry was formalized in 1996, when the rowing crews from both schools conceived the Queen's-McGill Challenge Boatrace (also consistently called the ''McGill-Queen's'' Challenge Boatrace). The competition was modelled after the famous
Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race[2], and is considered the Canadian equivalent of the aforementioned Oxbridge race as well as the
Harvard-Yale Regatta [3] [4].
The first Challenge was hosted on the Olympic Basin in
Montreal in 1997, and comprised a 2000 m race and a 500 m dash. Today, the traditional format of the Challenge Boatrace has become a 5000 m headrace followed by a 500 m sprint.
McGill and Queen's alternate hosting the event from year to year, and it takes place late in April.
Past Results
Academic Competition
Both considered top-tier universities in Canada, McGill and Queen's faculty and students routinely compete for prestigious awards, funding, and jobs.
Queen's and McGill both have very strong alumni networks. Both schools have numerous alumni as prominent Canadian scientists, politicians, and business leaders. There is a stereotype that McGill produces more scientists and artists, while Queen's produces more business leaders and politicians. However, McGill has produced numerous notable CEOs and politicians including two
Canadian prime ministers (see
List of McGill University people), and Queen's has produced a number of notable artists, musicians, and scientists (see
List of Queen's University people)
Rankings
Over the last few years,
Canadian universities have been subjected to the increasing popularity of national and international
university rankings, which rank different schools based on the inspected quality of their teaching and research, as well as other criteria, such as spending on facilities and dropout rates. Queen's and McGill have been a constant presence at the top end of the ranking, never appearing outside the overall top five in Canadian rankings, but their dominance in individual subjects is often challenged by other institutions.
McGill typically places higher in international university rankings such as the
Academic Ranking of World Universities (conducted by
Shanghai Jiao Tong University), although this can possibly be attributed to McGill's greater emphasis on research and the natural sciences. Queen's has traditionally put more of a focus on undergraduate education, electing to keep a smaller undergraduate population and maintain a higher professor/student ratio.
Maclean's magazine rates Canadian universities each year based on factors such as the student-to-faculty ratio, the number of library holdings per student, the number of
scholarships available per student, class sizes, number of
tenured faculty, etc. In 2006, McGill placed 1st in the Medical-Doctoral category, while Queen's placed 2nd. In
2006, Maclean's surveyed undergraduate students at universities across Canada, creating, in its own estimation, "the most complete university student assessment results that have ever been made public". In this set of surveys, overall, Queen's was ranked the number one university in Canada.
'Harvard of the North' Title
Queen's University and McGill University have both been referred to as the "
Harvard of the North"
[1][2][3]. Indeed, a
Newsweek article sparked this debate in 2002 when it opened an article claiming that it is a "commonly made assertion"
[4] that McGill is the Harvard of the North, prompting Queen's to respond by declaring they had more in common with Harvard and that Queen's students "love to call themselves the Harvard of the North". To this, McGill's Principal Shapiro replied in the National Post "We have never called ourselves [Harvard]. It's something that no one should ever say about themselves, it's something someone else says."
[5] A popular t-shirt sold at McGill satirizes the commonly made assertion with the text: "Harvard - America's McGill". The University of Toronto has also been referred to as the 'Harvard of the North'
[6].
Cooperation
Despite the impassioned rivalry between the two universities, they share a successful publishing house: the
McGill-Queen's University Press.
They also both participate in the
G13 Data Exchange (G13DE), along with 11 other research intensive universities in Canada. The G13DE comprises the institutional research directors at each of the G13 institutions. Through the formal and informal exchange of datasets and information, the goal of the data exchange is to support the Executive Heads in the development and enhancement of the distinctive mission of the institutions.
Trivia
★ The first
intercollegiate basketball game in Canada was played between McGill and Queen's on Feb. 6, 1904, in Kingston with McGill winning 9-7 in overtime.
Kill McGill returns to Kingston at 1:25pm EDT on Sunday, August 26, 2007, as the McGill Redmen football team travels to Richardson Stadium to take on the Queen's Golden Gaels in an exhibition game.
McGill's has two chants about Queen:
I would rather be a Redman than a fucking Golden Gael
I'd rather go to Peel Pub than spend a night in jail
I'd rather have a beer than drink a Ginger Ale
So fuck you Golden Gaels
The guys from Queen's they get the girls – you know that is a fact
It's not the way they part their hair, or in the way they act.
It 'cause they're such good lovers, with that extra special touch,
For you've got to be that skillful when you do the sheep so much.
See also
★
List of Canadian Universities
★
College rivalry
Notes and references
1. Empringham, James 2000.An ode to the university life. ''The McGill Tribune'', September 19 2000.
2. Water, water everywhere. ''The McGill Reporter'', May 18 1997.
3. McGill gunning to capture fourth trophy. Slam Sports, April 28 2000.
4. Rowing: McGill to host 10th Challenge event. ''The Montreal Gazette'', August 7 2006.
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