Dartmouth's off-campus programs began this week as scheduled despite increased fears of terrorism and fierce anti-American protests in many parts of the world.
"Most of the programs started either this weekend or today, so students and faculty are in place already," John Tansey, executive director of Off-Campus Programs, said. The remaining four programs will begin later this week as scheduled.
The Off-Campus Programs office is monitoring each program individually "on a daily basis" and is maintaining constant contact with program directors about security, Tansey said.
Stemming from worries about war-related terrorism, the State Department last week issued a warning to U.S. citizens abroad regarding the "potential for retaliatory actions to be taken against U.S. citizens and interests throughout the world."
The College will use the State Department's recommendations as a guide to determine if a program should be canceled, Tansey wrote in a February letter to participating students and their parents.
"We forward all relevant U.S. Department of State cautions and warnings via email," he wrote.
In the letter, Tansey recommended that students not "bring attention to themselves as Americans," and referred them to an online copy of Dartmouth's crisis management procedures for a list of contingency plans.
Much of the advice the College gives students is "good travel advice for any time," Tansey said, including urging that students avoid protests and keep abreast of the political situation in their country.
If a program must leave a nation for reason of conflict or unrest, the letter continued, Dartmouth will consider moving the program to a new location. If that is not possible, students will be accommodated with "solutions that are least disruptive."
According to the College's emergency plans, the Dean of the College is ultimately in charge of the fate of an off-campus program, though the group leader can make the decision to cancel a program if the College cannot be consulted in time.
If an evacuation is needed, the program director would contact the nearest U.S. consulate while a College representative in Hanover will contact the State Department.
The most recent program cancelled by the College was the Russian Foreign Study Program in Moscow in the fall of 2001. The cancellation, though coming soon after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, was spurred by an increase in crime against participating students.
In addition, a proposed Language Study Abroad program in Jerusalem has yet to run for lack of interest due in part to security fears.
Student participation in off-campus programs has dropped to 208 from a planned total of 221 in February, Tansey said. He attributed about half the decline to war worries.
Tansey said he had spoken with many students and parents in recent weeks. "Some of the questions were to see if the programs were still going forward, others addressed concerns about the war and how it may affect those programs," he said.
Last March, five students returned to Hanover from the art history Foreign Study Program in Florence, Italy because the State Department identified that city and other locations in Europe as potential terrorist targets.
Despite war-related schedule cutbacks by the airlines, only one Dartmouth student's flight was cancelled, Tansey said. "That's fairly normal given the numbers we have."
The area hardest-hit by the removal of flights is the Middle East, where most airlines cancelled international flights beginning Wednesday, when hostilities began. The College has no programs in the region.
Tansey said there have been no reported incidents of anti-American sentiments directed at students or faculty abroad, though protests overseas and in the United States are common.
Anti-war protests in many nations around the world have turned violent in some places, and in some countries demonstrators have attempted to attack U.S. embassies.
Students recently returned from Europe and other regions reported that much of the anti-American feeling is directed against the U.S. government and not against American citizens.
