U. study abroad programs in France to continue after Paris terrorist attacks

The University’s study abroad programs in France will not be canceled in reaction to the Paristerrorist attacksFriday, Director of the Office of International Programs Nancy Kanach said.

In the attacks, three teams of Islamic State members killed over 130 civilians and injured over 350 others at a concert hall, a stadium, bars and restaurants.

Kanach said that the University’s response in keeping students safe was a prompt and effective one and added that no University students were harmed. OIP, the Office of the Vice President for Campus Life and the Vice Provost for International Affairs and Operations collaborated to make sure University students were safe, she said.

“Together we responded and kept the University leadership up-to-date on what was happening,” she said.

French and Italian departmental representative Efthymia Rentzou saidnoted that staff within the French and Italian department also stayed in touch with the five or six students in Paris whom they personally knew after the attacks.

She added that, as far as she knew, no studenthas ever felt unsafe enough that he or she withdrew from a study abroad program.

“The risk level in France is, by all our security experts, not at the level that we would consider closing down programs. I’ve been monitoring what other schools are doing and what other programs are doing abroad. There’s, at this point, no plan to require people to come home or anything like that,” she said.

Director of Study Abroad program Mell Bolen did not respond to a request for comment. Department representative for the Wilson School Christina Davis and Wilson School Associate Dean Nathan Scovronick did not respond to a request for comment. Comparative literature department chair Eileen Reeves did not respond to a request for comment.

Kanach explained that OIP keeps track of where University students are overseas through the Concur tracking system, a tool used for monitoring student activity should students, for example, want to leave their assigned city for a weekend. Knowing where students are when they are abroad allows OIP to call, text and email them should an emergency situation occur, Kanach said.

She noted that betweenFridaynight andSaturdaymorning, about twenty messages were sent out to update students on what was happening.

“Generally, in this situation I think we got a hold of everybody in a very timely manner,” Kanach said.

She added that OIP offers counseling and has a 24/7 line for people to call if they felt that they needed any kind of assistance.

“We’re very, very sorry about all the deaths and the chaos and the injuries that this whole event caused,” Kanach said. “We were relieved that our students weren’t involved, but obviously we feel really deeply saddened and shocked by what’s happened to the people who were in those locations where the attacks took place.”

In order for students abroad to stay safe, it is recommended that they follow emergency policies as outlined by OIP, stay away from public demonstrations and stay vigilant, Kanach said.

“Life is risky, and so we always worry, you know, about how they’re doing,” she said."We’re hopeful that we prepare them well enough in terms of the kinds of orientations that we provide and some of the health and safety guidance that we give them."

Kanach also said that students who are in the process of applying to study abroad in France next semester are free to talk to OIP about being comfortable and supported should they choose to go abroad, adding that at this point they have the choice of going or not.

“These are personal decisions, and this is the nature, unfortunately, of terrorism,” Rentzou said. "The best answer to terror is to go on living as normal. And this is what people are trying to do in Paris."

A candlelight vigil called “Tossed by the Waves, But Does Not Sink: Vigil in Response to Attacks on Humanity” will be held at the University Art Museum patio at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, organized by the Religious Life Council and the Princeton French Society and co-sponsored by the Undergraduate Student Government, the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students and many other student groups. The event is meant to be an interfaith and intercultural dialogue on the recent attacks that have occurred around the world.