Students to conduct research in Havana during Spring Break

While many Americans protest and rally to keep one young boy out of Cuba, several University students and faculty have recently succeeded in organizing a trip to that country, after months of planning and negotiation.

During spring break, 20 University students and three faculty members will travel to Havana, Cuba, for 10 days of research as part of the student-initiated Princeton-in-Cuba program. They will do field work in areas such as public health care, education, environmental protection, artistic expression and religion.

With the inaugural Princeton-in-Cuba venture, the students hope to "initiate a wider and continuous learning experience of Princeton University academics in Latin America and make bridges between the two nations," according to the program's mission statement. "Sharing intellectual and personal experiences will help to overcome traditional cultural biases and dispel longstanding stereotypes," the statement continued.

The program differs from both the Princeton-in-Asia and the recently established Princeton-in-Africa programs because it spans a shorter time period and is "more of a grass-roots, personal contact program," said Nicole White '01, a Princeton-in-Cuba student coordinator.

"Practically, the programs are different, but the idea is the same. We want to form an academic exchange between two countries," said Jill Otto '02, a student coordinator planning to explore artistic expression on her trip.

The trip will be as much of a learning experience for them as for the people they visit, the participants emphasized. "The program is cool because we are not going to teach anyone how things are supposed to be done. We are going to learn from the place, see what Cuba can teach us," Otto said.

"Cuba is an amazing place that is right around the corner," she added. "We can go there and see what worked and what didn't. We can touch and smell for ourselves."

Logistics

Though they are still in the process of fundraising, the students have already received $2,500 from the President's Fund — money granted from President Shapiro specifically for domestic travel and study abroad groups — to finance the trip.

About half of this sum will go toward the travel expenses of one of the faculty members accompanying the students, while the other half will be used to cover part of several students' expenses. Though they are still requesting funds from another individual, the student coordinators said they expect to receive all the necessary money.

The students will travel on a chartered airplane from Miami to Havana and will go through a five-hour check-in process before being allowed in the country. Because the students have obtained an educational license to enter Cuba, they will be allowed to travel and interview at their discretion, Otto said. The Cuban government requires that Americans declare a specific purpose when visiting the country, she noted.

"We can go anywhere we want to and contact anyone we want to," Otto said.

The students began planning their trip before the recent controversy surrounding the custody and citizenship of the 6-year-old Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez. Since the conflict, however, the students have felt an "increasing need, a real need, to show ourselves as apolitical," student coordinator Christina Frank '02 said.

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"Elian is an issue, but he won't change the relationship between us and the Cubans," Otto added. The idea for the program emerged in William Potter '68's POL 367/LAS 367: Latin American Politics precept. Within the academic forum, the students discussed and debated the societies and theories of countries across the region, but Cuba soon became the focus of their discussion. It held an "immediate academic fascination for us all," Otto said.

"One day our preceptor walked in and said, 'I'd like to take you guys to Cuba,' " Frank said. "We thought he was kind of crazy."

While some students are participating in the trip to research for a thesis or junior paper and several sophomores are going "just to have a great experience," the students all have high hopes for the 10-day adventure, Frank said.

"We're hoping to meet Castro himself," said Otto. "We've heard you don't get to talk to him much; he basically talks to you. But we would like to hear what he has to say."