January 15, 2009
Less than a week before the start of the spring semester, Rutgers University suspended its study abroad programs with three Israeli universities in light of the present conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Officials cited student safety in a letter informing the nine students taking part in the program, who were forced to scramble for alternatives.
Some Jewish leaders on and off the campus objected to the decision, which was reached after an ad hoc “crisis management” team meeting was held on Jan. 8.
“We’re very disappointed” in the cancellation, Rutgers Hillel executive director Andrew Getraer told NJJN, “We think it’s a shortsighted and mistaken decision.”
He noted that 100 Rutgers students have been in Israel over the semester break on programs such as Birthright Israel without incident.
Getraer said Rutgers has the third-largest Jewish population among universities in the country.
Getraer was not a participant in the Jan. 8 meeting, which included representatives of the Study Abroad department, the University Council, and the Office of Undergraduate Education and the chair of the Jewish Studies department, Dr. Gary Rendsburg. Rutgers began its spring semester on Jan. 20.
Rendsburg said he told the meeting participants that he was comfortable with the students’ pursuing their studies in Israel, but, he said, “all voices were heard on all sides.”
“All options were put on the table,” Rendsburg told NJJN, noting that Rutgers also suspended its Israel programs during the Second Intifada in 2000.
Dr. Barry Qualls, vice president of undergraduate education, explained the decision in his letter to affected students.
“The instability in the Gaza area, now compounded by the missiles coming into northern Israel from Lebanon, indicate that the safety of our students cannot be reasonably assured,” he wrote. “We have thus decided to close our programs in Israel for Spring 2009.”
The nine affected students, who were notified by e-mail, included three slated to study at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, three at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and three at the University of Haifa.
BGU, in Beersheva, is the only one of the three universities within current range of rockets being fired from the Gaza Strip by Hamas; Israel has managed to silence only a portion of the missile attacks in its three-week offensive in Gaza.
BGU said it planned to move its Hebrew immersion program, which overseas students are initially enrolled in, to an out-of-range site.
‘Pain in the neck’
Qualls told NJJN that the university was following the recommendation of the State Department, which has an ongoing travel advisory to U.S. citizens and urges them to remain “vigilant” in all parts of Jerusalem.
As of Jan. 14, several rockets were launched from Lebanon into northern Israel in addition to the barrage of Gaza missiles into the South.
“We are constantly monitoring what are the State Department’s recommendations,” Qualls told NJJN. He noted that study-abroad programs have been suspended in Mexico and Kenya due to political instability, and that the Rutgers Study Abroad department works closely with International SOS, an advisory group that provides global medical and security assistance.
“Everyone here is concerned about safety issues,” Qualls said. “We felt there was no way that we could, as a university, say in good conscience” that it was safe for the students to study in Israel, given “the conditions in the last two to three weeks.”
While some parents told him that they did not see any problem with their children studying in Israel, others were relieved with Rutgers’ decision, Qualls said.
Two of the students originally slated to go to Israel have applied instead to study in Australia, but one may not be able to continue her double major in Jewish studies because she planned to take related coursework in Israel.
The three Rutgers students planning to go to Hebrew University maintained their commitment and were slated to have arrived in Israel as of Jan. 14.
Joshua Barer of Westfield, a third-year student at Rutgers, wrote in an e-mail message to NJJN that he plans to return to the University of Haifa for the spring semester, independent of Rutgers Study Abroad.
“I am temporarily withdrawing from Rutgers and directly enrolling into Haifa University International School. I’ve been told that my credits will still transfer back to Rutgers just the same, so no worries,” he wrote.
And, he said, he also benefits financially because by enrolling directly at Haifa, he is “paying half the tuition that I would have been” by going through Rutgers.
“I’m not sure about how the other Israeli universities are handling the situation, but Haifa U. has been very helpful and is making the process much easier than I expected,” wrote Barer. “However, stress and paperwork-wise, it’s kind of a pain in the neck.”
For those who remain enrolled in their Israeli universities, all their credits will be transferred and Rutgers will continue to honor any merit scholarships. Qualls told NJJN that the university will assist the few students who will stay in New Brunswick with arrangements for housing and class registration.
According to Dr. Janet Alperstein, director of the office of academic affairs at Hebrew University’s Rothberg International School, the University of Pennsylvania and Occidental College in California are the only other American universities that are suspending programs in Israel.
“We lost a few students,” Alperstein said of Hebrew University’s overall study abroad program, adding that the school sought to give students as much information as possible to enable them to make an informed decision. “The world has changed,” she said. “There’s a more holistic approach than there was even during the [Second] Lebanon War.”
Comment: comments@njjewishnews.com
--TOP--
