Although the leader of the Spanish department's Spring term Foreign Study Program last week told participants the program would almost certainly be relocated from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Montevideo, Uruguay, the administrator in charge of off-campus programs said the future of the FSP remains undecided.
The FSP's relocation "has not yet been decided," Assistant Dean of the Faculty Peter Armstrong said.
FSP leader Juan Medrano-Pizarro announced the change Wednesday at a group meeting, FSP participants said. Both he and Spanish department Chair Marsha Swislocki refused to comment yesterday.
Program administrators had previously expressed confidence that the trip would proceed to Buenos Aires as planned, despite the recent collapse of the Argentine economy that was followed by rioting and the installation of five new presidents in turn.
Medrano-Pizarro will visit Montevideo, Uruguay's capital, this week to arrange the trip's details, according to trip participants. His tasks include searching for host families and arranging classes.
The status of the FSP will be confirmed when Medrano-Pizarro returns from Uruguay, Armstrong said. "We have not made a final decision."
Several students withdrew from the FSP prior to Wednesday's announcement because of safety concerns.
"I dropped out of the program the day I got back into Hanover at the beginning of Winter term ... because of my parents' and my own concerns," Amanda Burrows '04 said.
The decision to switch locations this late in the process "was totally irresponsible," she added. "To send young adults to Argentina under such circumstances is ridiculous, and they knew this. They definitely could have made the decision earlier."
"Now, I and couple of others in the program are missing out because we took the precautions that they weren't willing to take."
"I was surprised because I didn't feel that anything [in Argentina] had changed drastically in the last week or so," program participant Mike Block '04 said. "If anything, I don't feel that the situation had gotten worse."
Among those told of the FSP's shift, "the overriding sentiment was not so much disappointment but disbelief," he said. "Hearing about the change made it seem like the program was even less stable."
All students potentially traveling to Uruguay this spring are enrolled in Spanish 21, a course on Argentine culture taught in two sections by Professors Medrano-Pizarro and Ral Bueno.
The program directors "have assured us that culturally, Buenos Aires and Montevideo are very similar places. I'm sure it'll be quite similar," Block said. "They've been very optimistic about everything."
FSP participants would attend a private university in Montevideo and reside with Uruguayan families.
Dartmouth, "to my knowledge, doesn't have the host families lined up yet," Block added. "The families will definitely be new to Dartmouth students -- they won't be repeat customers, as they were in Buenos Aires."
John Polga-Hecimovich '04 was optimistic about the program's status.
"I trust [the administration's] judgement and its concerns for our safety. Uruguay will be safe no matter what happens in Argentina," he said.
"My disappointment is overcome by the fact that I'll still be able to experience Buenos Aires" on a class field trip, Polga-Hecimovich added.
"I felt comfortable going to Buenos Aires," Allison Forbes '04 said, "but Montevideo's a pretty exciting place -- I definitely plan on going there on my own."
The upcoming FSP would be the first Dartmouth program held in Uruguay.
