Trump's attack on Harvard and more

UNFORGETTABLE SAGAS, SCOOPS AND SCANDALS FROM THE ARCHIVES 

 
 

Dear reader,

Since Harvard refused to comply with the Trump administration’s attempts to locate and punish students involved in campus protests in April, the president has cut billions in funding for the university. Late last week, the White House attempted to ban the school from enrolling international students, who account for nearly 30 per cent of its student body. A judge temporarily blocked the move, and Trump and the university are now locked in multiple court battles over the legality of the attacks on the school. 

The uncertainty and fear caused by the president’s crusade against Harvard—and other prestigious institutions like Columbia, Princeton and Cornell—has already started driving Ivy League academics north, and students may be next. While they won’t find a bombastic, toupeed tyrant in Canada, it’s not a safe haven for everyone upon arrival. In 2024, Simon Lewsen wrote about the many dangers international students face in Canada. When they get here, he found, there are often just as many people ready to exploit them as protect them.

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By Maddy Mahoney
Features editor

 
 
 

THE PERILOUS LIVES OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

They come here for the promise of a good education and a better future. Then they discover the target on their backs

BY SIMON LEWSEN  |  APRIL 17, 2024

International students are vulnerable to a range of criminal schemes, most of which would be unthinkable to Canadian citizens. They may study and attend lectures alongside their native-born peers, but they live in a reality in which exploitation is endemic, legal protections are elusive and safety is far from guaranteed. Case in point: Wenbo Jin, a 24-year-old statistics major at the University of Toronto, who was kidnapped in 2020. His abductors stole his keys, ransacked his apartment and held him captive in Richmond Hill for 13 days while they demanded a ransom of 500 bitcoins from his father in China. The mastermind behind the crime: a former international student. 

READ THE FULL STORY
 

In the June issue: Toronto’s best new restaurants. Plus, the go-to lawyer for celebrity offenders, inside the Jontay Porter betting scandal and a sex worker’s journey to Hollywood.Still not receiving Toronto Life at home? Subscribe today.

 

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