Harvard's Academic Exodus: Scholars Fleeing to Canada Amid Trump Backlash

As prominent U.S. scholars flee to Canadian institutions, the ongoing conflict between universities and the Trump administration raises questions about the future of academic freedom.

In the wake of significant political turmoil affecting American higher education, the University of Toronto is experiencing an influx of scholarly talent from the United States. The migration is significantly fueled by discontent with policies and rhetoric from the Trump administration which have placed U.S. colleges and their academic freedoms under scrutiny.

Last year, Timothy Snyder and Marci Shore, both well-known historians from Yale University, made the leap to Toronto as part of this academic shift. Snyder humorously described their relocation as an attempt to navigate a "positive midlife crisis." However, the political climate back in the U.S. turned increasingly bleak for progressive academics after Donald Trump’s election in November.

The Trump administration has made pointed criticisms of U.S. colleges, accusing some of harboring anti-American sentiment. This criticism escalated into policies that not only threaten the expulsion of international students but also pose risks to academic funding and freedom.

Snyder and Shore, along with fellow Yale philosophy professor Jason Stanley, have vocally opposed the Trump administration's measures. Their discontent was solidified with the publication of a widely circulated New York Times video opinion titled, “We Study Fascism, and We’re Leaving the U.S.”

At the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Snyder and Shore now join the ranks of Brian Rathbun and Nina Srinivasan Rathbun, both international relations professors who relocated from the University of Southern California last year. This trend underscores a broader movement of U.S. academics seeking a more supportive environment for their work and values in Canada amidst U.S. political crises.