Travel Policy May Change

Students who hope to study abroad in Tel Aviv, Manila, or Abuja may get their wishes this fall, when a nine-person ad hoc committee considers whether the College should scrap its current study abroad policy, which bans travel to all 29 countries on the State Department’s “Travel Warning” list.

The current policy—which was adopted in 2003 and prevents students from receiving credit or funding for studies, internships, or travel done any of those 29 countries—has been attacked by some for being too restrictive. The list includes war-torn countries like the Sudan and Iraq, but also relatively safer countries such as Israel, the Phillipines, and Nigeria.

“If the Committee recommends changes to our current policy, Dean [of the College Benedict H.] Gross [’71] will present these to the Faculty Council this fall,” Associate Dean of the College Georgene B. Herschbach, who will chair the committee, wrote in an e-mail. Both the Faculty Council – the 18-member governing board of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences – and the entire Faculty would have to approve any new list before it is put into effect.

The Travel Policy Committee, which was formed by Gross in May, comes after students started an online petition in May calling for the College to amend its current system. As of yesterday, the petition had garnered signatures from 438 students, faculty, and staff.

Proud Dzambukira ’07, an organizer of the online petition and its first signatory, said student complaints have been echoed by professors and administrators alike.

“A lot of faculty...house masters and senior tutors as well as individuals from the administration and offices such as the SEO [Student Employment Office] and the Fellowships Office pressured for a review of the policy and also supported the student effort,” Dzambukira wrote in an e-mail. He said that among academic departments, the African Studies and Asian Studies committees were particularly supportive of the student group’s efforts.

Frankfurter Professor of Law Alan M. Dershowitz said a review of the College’s travel policy was “long overdue.”

“A lot of politics go into the state department’s listing and Harvard University should not be a part of that political process.” Dershowitz said.

Both Dzambukira and Dershowitz said that the State Department warnings do not necessarily reflect how safe a country is for study.

“I travel to Israel a lot and Tel Aviv is a much safer city all things considered than New York,” Dershowitz said. “And yet the State Department issues a caution for the whole of Israel, which includes Gaza and the West Bank, which conveys a very false message about the safety at Tel Aviv University.”

The committee will meet two or three times in September before making its recommendations. According to Herschbach, it will be composed of four administrators, three faculty members, a student, and a representative of the Office of General Counsel.

While Dershowitz said that the composition of the committee will probably make it lean towards more risk-averse recommendations, Dzambukira said he was confident that the committee will recommend changing the current system.

“I think the policy will be changed,” Dzambukira wrote. “I have no idea what it will look like but I certainly hope that it will include provisions to do case-by-case evaluations.”

Yale and Brandeis universities, which do not follow the state department’s guidelines, currently have faculty committees that create lists of restricted countries. But Dershowitz advocated an even more permissive system.

“The presumption should be in favor of permitting study anywhere that has an acceptable education system,” he said. “The provision should be based not on the country as such but on the part of the country where the student plans to study.”

Both University President Lawrence H. Summers and members of the ongoing Harvard College Curricular Review have in the past stressed the importance of increasing undergraduates’ opportunities for international academic experiences.

—Staff writer Joshua P. Rogers can be reached at jprogers@fas.harvard.edu.