Pomona Withdraws from Nepal Program
By Susan Hoang
News Writer

In the face of worsening violence in Nepal this summer, Pomona withdrew five of its students from Pitzer College's fall study abroad program in Kathmandu, Nepal. The decision was based on safety concerns, although Pitzer has decided to allow its own students to go.

The decision was made by the Pomona Crisis Abroad Task Force, which is composed of high level administrators and faculty members. The group originally convened in June to discuss the situation in Nepal, but postponed making a decision until early July, at which time it suspended the program for this semester. The Pomona students in were given the option of deferring their applications to the spring of 2003 or to go on another study abroad program. Two of the students went to Botswana and Ecuador instead, while three deferred, hoping to go next semester.

"The decision to cancel the program was not made hastily. Half of all programs to Nepal have been cancelled. It has been suggested that the infrastructure [in Nepal] is falling apart. We followed procedures that were formalized during the Gulf War. Our primary concern is student safety and security while they're there," said Pomona's Director of Study Abroad Rhoda Borcherding.

In highly volatile political situations, Pomona convenes its Crisis Abroad Task force to decide whether to send or recall students from a country where there might be threats to their safety. It was responsible for cancelling the Zimbabwe and Israel study abroad programs in recent years.

One of the students who chose to defer, Leslie Barnard '04, saw the Nepal program as "an important travel experience." The cancellation of the program came as a surprise to her because she was away most of the summer. Barnard said "The program is an opportunity to challenge your assumptions. Other programs aren't big on cultural immersion." She hopes to go to Nepal next semester, but will choose a second choice for her travels.

Pitzer continues to vouch for its program's safety after extensive contacts with the US Embassy in Nepal and the local Nepalese administrators of the program. Associate Director of External Studies at Pitzer Michael Donahue, who directs the Nepal program says, "We can continue to send students without compromising the safety and goals of the program, but I understand that different people have different comfort levels." Donahue was sent a letter from the U.S. Embassy specifically addressing the safety issue, stating that it was fine to go ahead with the program. Donahue also noted that Pitzer's students have been given guidelines for their safety and are verbally contracted to these guidelines. Failure to yield to the guidelines means that the students will be sent home.

One of the main factors in the decision to cancel the program was a State Department issued public announcement in May and then another this month which stated that there could be “an increased risk to Americans in Nepal, particularly outside the Kathmandu Valley.” The Pitzer program is based within the Kathmandu Valley.

The current violence in Nepal is attributed to Maoist guerilla cadres in Nepal that have been fighting since 1996 for a Communist state to replace Nepal’s constitutional monarchy. Periodically they have carried out violent attacks and bombings on the general populace, attempting to coerce them into submission. They also organize the bandhs, or general strikes for the country. Their acts are usually limited to the countryside but their most recent attack, which took place on September 17, was a bomb detonated in Kathmandu that killed two officials. The Maoists have never targeted U.S. citizens or tourists