By Megan Crepeau | RedEye
Kate Rooney nearly didn't make it to Israel this month.
The 23-year-old was slated to fly there as part of a partnership between Northwestern, where she is a graduate student studying journalism, and the Jerusalem Press Club. But the area was so volatile that she and her fellow students weren't sure whether Northwestern would give her trip the green light.
"This program wasn't actually fully approved until the Tuesday before we left, and we left the following Monday," she said. "Every time there [was] a cease-fire, we were like, 'Well, maybe we'll go,' but then it didn't hold."
In light of heightened health and safety risks in global hot spots such as Israel, Ukraine and West Africa, local colleges must make a delicate calculation: whether the benefits of offering study abroad programs outweigh the risk of sending students to potentially dangerous locations. Students at DePaul, Knox and Michigan's Kalamazoo College recently have had their plans for foreign study suspended or modified due to safety concerns.
DePaul canceled its plans for a program in Sierra Leone because of the recent outbreak in West Africa of the deadly Ebola virus, according to GianMario Besana, associate provost for global engagement and online learning. A trip to Ghana is still in the works.
"DePaul will continue monitoring the situation and reserves the right to suspend the program in the near future," Besana said.
Northwestern, which last year suspended its Egypt programs indefinitely, does not plan to adjust any of the programs it currently offers in the Middle East.
"We work very hard to make sure all our travelers are well-informed," said Julie Anne Friend, director of Northwestern's Office of Global Safety and Security. "At the same time, we do a lot to facilitate travel. It's not our goal to keep people from locations, if at all possible."
Kalamazoo, about 150 miles from Chicago, recently suspended three programs: one in Israel and one in Kenya due to safety concerns, and one in Senegal due to Ebola.
"We're hoping to send students again next year," spokesman Jeff Palmer said. "We've had students in these countries for a long time, they're very immersive, students love them, but right now it's just not safe in those countries."
Three students from Knox College in downstate Galesburg had planned to study in Guinea this fall. Their program, run by Ohio's Antioch University, was diverted to Cameroon after the deadly Ebola virus struck. No Knox programs have been modified or suspended.
Robin Ragan, director of Knox's Center for Global Studies, said her department confers with the dean as well as any faculty members who are experts in particular geographic areas.
"We would look at a number of factors like if a country/area is placed on a Travel Warning by the State Department, the CDC in Atlanta travel advisories, the WHO travel advisories, what our peer colleges have decided and why, and the program provider's emergency plans," Ragan said via email.
A spokesman for the University of Chicago said no foreign programs had been suspended there, to his knowledge. Representatives of the University of Illinois could not be reached for comment.
Rooney, the Northwestern graduate student, got back from Israel this week. Despite the ongoing violence in the region this summer, she said her study-abroad trip was a "once-in-a-lifetime experience."
And despite hearing artillery fire and seeing U.N. peacekeepers on the border with Syria, she said she didn't feel less safe there than she does in Chicago.
"You're a little bit on edge, but in terms of everyday safety, I feel very safe over here," she said from Israel. "The fact that Northwestern approved it gave me a lot of peace of mind."
mcrepeau@tribune.com | @crepeau
Trouble areas
The U.S. State Department issues advisories to warn travelers about potential risks. Warnings advise travelers to consider visiting the country at all, for reasons including an unstable government, civil war or frequent terrorist attacks. Alerts bring attention to short-term concerns such as an election season with potential violence or a disease outbreak. Below are the countries put under advisory since the beginning of August. The Centers for Disease Controland the World Health Organizationalso issue advisories. REDEYE