Student newspapers are integral to the university communities they cover. While big media organizations don’t have the capacity to cover everything happening on campuses, student journalists offer comprehensive coverage of their schools.

But under Premier Doug Ford’s government, student media might not survive. Ford recently announced a slew of changes to post-secondary funding and costs. At a glance, some of these changes seem positive. These include the Student Choice Initiative, which will allow post-secondary students “to choose which student fees they want to pay and how that money will be allocated.”

In theory, having the power to pick and choose which fees to pay is nice. But the reality is that students fees are essential to the university experience — and those paying the fees might not realize that.

Ancillary fees are responsible for funding student government: which, in turn, controls everything from bus passes to campus coffee shops and newspapers. When students opt-out of paying those fees, it will profoundly affect their student experience in the long-run.

I’m the opinions editor at Western University’s student newspaper, The Gazette. My work with The Gazette and the community that accompany it have defined my university experience. I didn’t realize I was interested in writing until I started volunteering with the paper, and I’ve been passionate about journalism ever since.

As someone whose work and life will be directly impacted by the loss of mandatory ancillary fees, I’m gutted. If students opt out of their fees, campus media outlets won’t be able to function properly — without the means to pay young journalists or to purchase equipment, such as cameras and recorders, comprehensive coverage of campus news is going to suffer.

Over the past few years, I’ve watched my friends pour so much time into stories that have been crucial for our readers, ranging from short briefs to long-running investigative feature. These stories wouldn’t have been possible without the funding we get from ancillary fees. And while this is a huge loss for the student journalists who love what they do, it’s also a huge loss for Canadian media as a whole.

Student newspapers are crucial in informing students and the public about what is happening on their campuses. They also serve as training grounds for the young journalists who go on to work at legacy media outlets. And, perhaps most importantly, publications like The Gazette are responsible for holding elected officials accountable, both at a campus level and a provincial level. Student publications educate their respective campuses about the government’s actions and what they mean for young Canadians. Since he started campaigning, The Gazette has published multiple editorials and news pieces about how Ford’s policies impact students.

Ford has always had a bad relationship with the media outlets who hold him accountable, so this opt-out option isn’t necessarily surprising. But beyond impacting student journalism, the Student Choice Initiative will also impact just about everything else that happens outside of the classroom at post-secondary institutions.

The Orientation-Week programming that welcomes first-year students will suffer; campus events like concerts will suffer; clubs and student groups will suffer; everything that makes a university experience unique and exciting will suffer.

Students — especially those in first-year — won’t recognize the implications of opting-out of ancillary fees. Given the option not to pay them, it makes sense that they wouldn’t. But the student experience is defined by more than academics: students benefit from the initiatives and activities they’re involved in over the course of their degrees.

Participating in clubs and events can bolster students’ professional resumes and build a sense of community. It can set students up for a successful future, and make their time at university more enjoyable all-around.

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My job at The Gazette is integral to my experience at Western. But it’s also integral to my future: once I graduate, my experience with student journalism will propel me farther than my degree ever will. I genuinely believe that campus media is essential for every post-secondary institution, and its funding shouldn’t be up for debate. And while I feel this way about my student newspaper, other students will feel similarly about their own extracurriculars, whatever they may be.

The Student Choice Initiative could be disastrous for the students that ancillary fees benefit. While the choice to opt-out of paying ancillary fees seems democratic, it’s not a choice students should be allowed to make — for their own good.

Gabrielle Drolet is the opinions editor at The Gazette, Western University’s student newspaper.

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