Who could have imagined only a few months ago a recent headline in the Globe and Mail, “Harvard, U of T agree on contingency plan for some international students to finish studies in Canada“.
The Globe noted:
Harvard and the University of Toronto have agreed on a contingency plan to allow some Harvard students to complete their program in Canada if they’re unable to re-enter the U.S. because of visa restrictions.
Students at the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government who are unable to re-enter the U.S. will be able to finish their studies at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, the two universities announced.
The US government is trying to revoke Harvard’s ability to enroll international students. The US government is also looking at taking away Harvard’s tax-exempt status. Even if Harvard does not lose its ability to enroll international students, many international students may not even be able to enter the US with the increasing restrictions that are going on. The UofT program will only start if there are enough students who require the program, and it will only be for existing international students who have studied at Harvard for at least a year.
The story is a poignant example of how Canadian nonprofits and charities can step up to assist US charities during this challenging time.
Over the last month, we have helped a number of large US charities establish Canadian nonprofits in Canada. These are non-profits that are not registered charities. They are not here to fundraise in Canada, but to hold some of the reserves or assets of the US entity, and to ensure that certain work will continue. The situation in the US is extremely unstable with rumours circulating only a few weeks ago that much of the international philanthropy from the US was going to be banned. There are concerns about Trump going after many charities that have agendas that he does not agree with and also concerns about banks either creating problems when it comes to fund transfers to certain organizations or regions or simply freezing accounts on US charities to curry favour with this administration.
No one has a crystal ball, but if you’re a large American organization and you’re trying to keep all your eggs in one basket of a US 501(c)(3) based in the US, you may end up losing everything. Harvard has to fight to ensure its survival, but as we see in this example, it needs to work with other entities around the world if it wants to maintain some of its existing programs and students. Harvard has the money, connections and smarts to fight, and perhaps be successful, but many US 501(c)(3) organizations that are not as strong, well-resourced and well-connected may be crushed by this administration.