Each year students across the United States pack up their bags and board planes going around the world to participate in study abroad programs. At AU, over 60 percent of the student population studies abroad before graduating, according to the AU Abroad Web site, but safety is an ever-growing concern.
Leah Gates, a sophomore in the School of International Service, was in Prague, Czech Republic, last semester and was there when terrorists threatened the city in September.
She said it was "scary because we didn't really know what was going on except from the text message from our program director." She also said every day threats "can be avoided by being aware of yourself and what is around you."
In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of universities with programs abroad that have contracts with private security companies. Companies such as International SOS are charged with the responsibility to rescue or evacuate students when necessary. It is even possible to purchase ransom insurance for kidnappings, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Students' safety while abroad is a top priority, with only sending students on programs they deem as safe, according to AU Abroad's Web site. AU Abroad is in regular contact with on-site directors and regularly assesses the risk of each program. Students are given emergency phone numbers and program directors are able to contact students as well. The Web site does not say whether the university has any additional emergency plans or procedures, or contracts with an outside security company such as International SOS.
Studying abroad can be dangerous even when students are living and studying in places that are not typically considered dangerous, such as Western Europe. When students are in a foreign city, they may speak the language, but they cannot ignore differences in culture, even in health care systems, communications or safety procedures, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
"If what fascinates you is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it doesn't make sense for you to study in Paris just because it seems safer," Gates said. "People recognize that students are there to better understand local lives and culture and that makes students less of a target."
International SOS was used by Princeton University last summer to evacuate students studying in Beirut, Lebanon, when Israel bombed the city, according to the Chronicle.
Molly Wilkin, a sophomore in the School of International Service who is studying in Dakar, Senegal, this semester, said she has felt unsafe at times. Although she is an AU student, her study-abroad program is run by the Council on International Educational Exchange.
"I have felt unsafe on several occasions, but I think that is to be expected to a certain extent," Wilkin said in an e-mail.
There have been some incidents in which girls on her trip have been mugged with machetes and there was more violence during demonstrations in relation to recent presidential elections, although no one has been seriously hurt, she said.
Even though there are risks in studying abroad, Wilkin said it is worth it. While it is hard to control situations outside of the program, the company running her program gave students instructions on how to deal with situations that may arise, she said in the e-mail. Wilkin also said they had been taken to the U.S. Embassy for additional information.
When Wilkin first arrived, the students "had a week[-long] intensive orientation to the culture and cultural norms, which include safety norms," she said.
