Trump administration puts strain on Harvard's Canadian hockey pipeline
When Kristin Della Rovere first stepped onto Harvard University's campus as a fresh-faced teenager in 2016, it sparked a feeling she had never experienced with any other school.
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She felt at home.
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'When you get the opportunity to attend one of the best schools in the world, it's hard to say no,' she told Postmedia. 'I went on my official visit and I just fell in love with the school, and I knew that was the only place I wanted to be.'
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While the Caledon, Ont., product enrolled two years later as a pre-medical student, studying psychology and neuroscience, Della Rovere was there first and foremost to play for the Harvard Crimson women's hockey team — a program known for producing elite Canadian talent like Jennifer Botterill and Sarah Vaillancourt.
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After several seasons in Ontario's top junior circuit, she worked her way up from freshman to captain of the program between 2021 and 2023.
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Della Rovere found herself graduating just as the PWHL was being formed in the summer of 2023. That fall, she was drafted in the tenth round, 56th overall, by PWHL Ottawa.
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She was one of six Harvard alumni to participate in PWHL training camps that fall — including goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer, who joined Della Rovere in Ottawa, eight years removed from her last season wearing the crimson, white and black.
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'(Harvard) was a backbone for me,' Della Rovere said. 'I don't know if I would have made it there without my experience at the university.
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'If I had to go back and choose a different school, I would have chosen the same one.'
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But that once-simple decision is one that current and prospective students are now learning can't be taken for granted.
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On May 22, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration revoked Harvard's ability to enroll international students, who account for more than a quarter of the institution's total enrollment.
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The developments mark the latest escalation in an ongoing conflict spurred by the administration's claims that Harvard failed to adequately protect Jewish students from antisemitism.
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While a U.S. judge issued a restraining order that blocked the Department of Homeland Security's edict regarding international students at Harvard, the school's athletes are in a precarious position.
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The Department of Homeland Security said Harvard had 30 days to prove it meets the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme's (SEVP) rules for hosting international students. However, the judge also said she plans to issue a longer-term block, allowing international students to remain at Harvard while the case continues.
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