While the Greater Toronto Area’s various academic institutions buckle down for new operating deficits caused by Ottawa’s international student visa cap, it’s business as usual for the homogenous student base of Western University.
“The school has a uniquely Canadian type of diversity,” says Elenore Preston (see photo), head of the university’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion initiative.
The cap, which experts conclude will cut student visas by a third of its current metric, coincided with the group's new student initiative, Making All Graduates Admirable (MAGA). “We’ve always wanted a certain kind of person to call themselves a Western-er,” explained Preston.
“We’ve taken a lot of steps to bolster a strong sense of inclusion on our campus,” Preston affirmed. “We recently implemented new campus clubs for minority students, such as Roman Catholics. We can only hope these federal savings help in areas of the economy that help all Canadians, says Preston, “like building additional highway lanes and deforesting the greenbelt.”
The Boundary took reports of feelings on the London campus, interviewing the students whose lives the cap would change:
“It's about time,” says kinesthetics major Sandra Jacobs, “I’m sick of having to deal with all those Quebecers.”
“I hope housing will be more affordable now,” says an anonymous student, “my landlord just upped the rent of my studio to $335 a month.”
“What’s an India?” says Peter Smith, a Delta Upsilon pledge.