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  1. Museum of Jewish Montreal
  2. McGill University Quota (845 Sherbrooke O.)

McGill University Quota (845 Sherbrooke O.)

file1924-1950

1 of 1 descriptions below digitizedView at source ↗

Where

845 rue Sherbrooke OuestCorrect the locationNearby on the big map
Held by
Museum of Jewish Montreal via Museum of Jewish Montreal — map of Jewish Montreal
Creators
Valérie Beauchemin; translated by Helge Dascher
Dates
1924-1950 (indexed as 1924–1950)
Level
file (source: Exhibit)
Scope & content
From the late 1920s until the Second World War, McGill University enforced discriminatory measures against Jewish students. For many Ashkenazi immigrants who arrived from Eastern Europe at the start of the century, education represented the best prospect for social mobility. This was reflected in a significant increase in Jewish enrollment at Montreal universities, including McGill. Thus, for instance, in 1913, 6.8% of McGill students were Jewish; by 1924, this number had risen to 25%. McGill Principal Sir Arthur Currie worried that a large and ever-increasing Jewish presence would prevent Anglo-Saxon Protestant students from receiving an adequate education. Ira Allan Mackay, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, shared his concern. As a result, the Faculty increased the admissions average to 75% for Jews, as compared to 60% for non-Jews. Meanwhile, a strict quota was implemented by the Faculties of Medicine and Law, limiting Jewish enrollment to 10% of all students. Harvard and Columbia were among several American universities that had previously implemented similar measures. Most of these discriminatory policies were not lifted until after the Second World War, despite pressure from influential individuals, including businessman Samuel Bronfman. McGill’s discriminatory policies in regard to Jews reveal an anti-Semitic bias prevalent among English-speaking Quebecers at the time. More insidious and less overt than that expressed by a number of French-speaking intellectual, religious and political leaders, it was equally harmful in that it limited the economic and social opportunities of Jews. McGill’s exclusionary policies can be considered comparable to the antisemitic incidents that occurred at Université de Montréal and to restrictions on the admission of Jewish medical interns to the city’s Catholic hospitals during the same period. Compiled by Valérie Beauchemin, translated by Helge Dascher. Sources: Abella, Irving M. (1983), None is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe, 1933-1948. New York: Random House, 1983. Anctil, Pierre. Le rendez-vous manque. Les Juifs de Montreal face au Quebec de l’entre-deux- guerres. Montreal: Institut quebecois de recherche sur la culture, 1988. Anctil, Pierre " Interlude of Hostility : Judeo-Christian Relations in Quebec in the Interwar Period, 1919-1939" dans Alan T. Davies (dir.), Antisemitism in Canada: History and Interpretation Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1992. Brice Frost, Stanley. McGill University for the Advancement of Learning Volume II: 1895- 1971. Montreal, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1984. King, Joe. Fabled City, The Jews of Montreal. Montreal: Éditions Price-Patterson Ltd, 2009. King, Joe. Les Juifs de Montreal. Trois siècles de parcours exceptionnels, , traduit de l’anglais vers le français par P. Anctil. Outremont: Éditions Carte Blanche, 2002. Mendelson, Alan. Exiles from Nowhere : The Jews and the Canadian Elite. Montreal: Robin Brass Studio, 2008. FR : L’Université McGill et le quota sur les étudiants juifs, 845 Sherbrooke O., Montréal
Places
845 Sherbrooke O., Montreal; 845 Sherbrooke O., Montréal; 845 rue Sherbrooke O., Montreal
Location
  • 845 rue Sherbrooke Ouest · address · confidence 90% · address:exact · found as “845 Sherbrooke O.”
  • Université de Montréal · landmark · confidence 70% · landmark:montreal · found as “universite de montreal”
  • McGill University · landmark · confidence 60% · landmark:geonames · found as “mcgill university”
Correct the location
Subjects
Education
Language
English
Harvested
2026-10-17T06:33:35Z · source datestamp n/a · mjm
Original metadata as harvested (mjm)