HUFFPOST CANADA Student journalists Jack Denton, Andy Takagi and Josie Kao stand in The Varsity's office on the University of Toronto's St. George campus on Jan. 17, 2019.

TORONTO — When Jack Denton started university, he thought he would one day work for the government or for a non-profit group. It only took about four weeks for him to change his mind. In his first month at the University of Toronto, the political science undergrad found out there was a man filming women while they showered in his residence, Whitney Hall. "It was a really big deal ... My female friends were using the buddy system to go to the bathroom at res." The school's student newspaper, The Varsity, happened to be holding an open house that week. "I walked in and pitched a story to the news editor. The next Monday, I was on the front page and I thought, 'Well, this is easy,'" he said in an interview at The Varsity's office on Thursday. "Boy, was I wrong."

HUFFPOST CANADA Jack Denton's first story for The Varsity hangs on a bulletin board in the student newspaper's Toronto office.

With that, Denton realized he wanted to be a journalist. He moved up the ranks at The Varsity and now serves as editor-in-chief (and no longer believes that putting together a weekly newspaper is "easy"). Changes introduced by Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government on Thursday may mean that fewer students get the chance that Denton did in his first year. Papers like The Varsity are funded through mandatory student fees. Charges included in students' tuition go toward campus newspapers, student unions and centres that support racialized students, LGBTQ students and survivors of sexual assault. Students will now choose which fees they want to pay, Minister Merrilee Fullerton announced Thursday. Colleges and universities will decide which services are "essential" and which are optional, leaving the latter without funding. Fullerton said the change could save students up to $1,000 a year. Students shouldn't be forced to pay fees for things they don't use or support, she told reporters.

Government of Ontario Announcements/YouTube Ontario Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Merrilee Fullerton speaks to reporters at Queen's Park in Toronto on Jan. 17, 2019. (Credit: Government of Ontario Announcements/YouTube)