The Canadian students who found a second home in Essex

"I really love it here, it became a second home," says Karen Pink, 41, who studied at an unusual campus in Old Harlow that is also a little corner of Canada.

The Canadian finally achieved her 20-year dream to study at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador international campus in the Essex town in 2024.

Like many former students, she was devasted at the news that the Canadian university will close its Essex campus at the end of August.

The university said students numbers had fallen and it was "not financially sustainable".

For Pink, "it's not just about the study, it's about experiencing a different culture". So what makes the Old Harlow campus such a special place for its students?

"I get very emotional thinking about it because I had waited so long to come here and now two years later they're going [to] close the campus," Pink said.

She had made studying at Harlow "her life goal", after first hearing about it in her first year of university in 2003.

But family commitments and the Covid-19 pandemic meant years when she paused her studies, eventually focusing on the visual arts and art history.

"The first time I came here, there was nothing but welcome," she said.

"I arrived a little bit before the rest of my group and a local gentleman took me and our professor and we drove out around Sawbridgeworth and some of the little villages.

"He knew that I have a lot of passion for the thatched roofs and the different old architecture that comes with those village buildings."

The proximity to London with its many galleries was a boon for an art student, but she loved coming back to the peace of Old Harlow and its friendly inhabitants.

On hearing news of the campus closure, she thought: "OK, well, I'd love to come here one last time and say goodbye."

Despite being 2,327 miles (3,745 km) away, the Harlow campus remains part of Memorial, which is based in St John's, the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Students continue their studies for just a few months, in a range of fields, including teaching, business, biochemistry, biology, the visual arts, theatre and the social sciences.

It was the brainchild of Lord Taylor of Harlow who, after helping create the new town of Harlow after World War Two, became president of Memorial on the other side of the Atlantic.

Speaking at the time, Lord Taylor said: "I think it would be rather fitting if the oldest town in the New World is linked to the newest town in the Old World."

Also returning to Harlow a final visit was Leighanne Trotter, 33, whose studies in 2012 coincided with Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee and the Olympics.

Trotter, who has a bachelor of fine arts degree, said: "As a young kid it felt amazing to be able to be in a different country and experience all these new things.

She described news of the campus closure as "heart-breaking".

"It's been such a pinnacle point in my life that I got to experience and I was hoping that many future [students] after me would it be able to," she said.

"It was one of the big points for why I wanted to go to Memorial University."

Kel Parsons, 24, studied at the Essex campus in 2024 and felt "right at home from the get-go".

"People seem to like the Canadians over here and I made a good few friends while I was here that I ended up keeping in touch with," she said, describing it as a "life-changing experience".

And like the other students, she found the range of cultural opportunities invaluable for her studies.

She said: "The only reason I came to this specific programme is because you get to have this exchange [to Harlow] and this breadth of knowledge that you just really wouldn't get anywhere else."

Professor of visual culture and art history at the university, Gerard Curtis, is one of about a dozen members of staff at the campus.

He has been living between England and Canada for about 30 years and found news of its closure "bittersweet for myself after all of these years of teaching here".

Curtis continued: "We're in shock that the university, the board of regents, the president haven't seen the benefits this campus could offer.

"We've got probably a year or two that we can still battle to see this campus through and see the vision of it continue to grow and develop."

A spokesperson for the university said the academic programming concluded on 31 July.

Dr Janet Morrison, president and vice-chancellor of Memorial University, said: "Harlow was a transformational learning experience for those who experienced it, and we recognize that there are feelings of grief associated with its closure.

"However, with fixed overhead costs approaching $1 million (£532k) annually since 2022 and less than 1% of the student population able to attend each year, the Harlow Campus is not financially sustainable.

"We are being responsive to the pressures facing universities around the world.

"By making courageous choices now, we are positioning Memorial University to be stronger, more focused and more resilient."

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