Hear! Hear! to Higher Education
Letter to Trinity Alumni Magazine Winter 2011
It was nice to read about the new deans, Jonathan Steels and Kristen Moore, as well as about Brett Cumberbatch, who is working on outreach to at-risk youth in Toronto’s northwest. The efforts of people like them help enrich Trinity, and our communities.
However, I often feel that the traditional programs set up to help Trinity students as well as at-risk youth in our communities miss large swathes of the population. I myself was an at-risk youth (arrested twice as a young offender and dropped out of high school), as well as someone who had a lot of hardships transitioning to life at university (I was briefly homeless in my first year and eked out an existence by holding down multiple part-time jobs).
The weak political voice of under-performing Asians juxtaposed with high-achieving Asians means that this community is often neglected or at best a low priority. Kudos to those who work to help tear down the barriers that impede people from achieving their potential. Higher education is without a doubt the single most powerful driver of social mobility.
Kai L. Chan, ’99
New York City
