Travel

Students aren’t letting terrorism stop them from studying abroad

Back when I was departing for a study abroad experience in Australia in the early ’90s, it was with nervous excitement that I ventured off for a semester of cultural immersion.

But for students today, a more unsettling energy is understandable in light of last year’s terror attacks in Paris and global threats.

“People are more cautious, but not enough to drastically affect our numbers,” says Shannon Harrison, director of the Center for International Education at Adelphi University. In the past year, 213 Adelphi students studied abroad.

‘We can’t be inhibited by this demented fear or give in to it. We have to face it, and not let it stop our contact with the rest of the world.’

 - Brian Rose, theater professor at Adelphi University

“We had two students in Paris,” says Harrison. “I had e-mails from them that night, and from all 16 kids in Europe by noon the next day. One of my students didn’t respond to my e-mail right away, but had just posted on her Instagram account.”

Through study-abroad orientations with parents and students, “Basic rules of being safe abroad are covered,” adds Harrison. “Students should tune in to a news source, and register with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program through the US Department of State.”

Brian Rose, a theater professor in Adelphi’s acting program, recently guided 20 students on a two-week London trip. Program officials recently upgraded their safety protocols.

For those who are hesitant, “We can’t be inhibited by this demented fear or give in to it. We have to face it, and not let it stop our contact with the rest of the world,” says Rose.

St. John’s University celebrates 30 years of study abroad this year.

“Last academic year, we had over 1,000 students studying abroad in 15 countries,” says Matt Pucciarelli, associate vice president of global studies at St. John’s, noting that after the Paris attacks, “A small number of families withdrew from the program.”

CUNY requires all students studying abroad to have insurance, which incorporates a risk assessment team, says Dr. Alice Gail Bier, senior director of international education and global engagement at Brooklyn College. “If something is terribly wrong, the company will contact students and work with us to see if they need to be evacuated,” says the administrator.