In response to the current unrest in Egypt, Elon University students studying abroad at the American University of Cairo have been safely evacuated from the country. According to Paul Geis, assistant director of affiliations and exchanges at the Isabella Cannon International Centre, all of the students are safe and have contacted their families.
Elon cancelled its affiliate program at AUC Sunday, and of the six students studying in Egypt, five were evacuated together to Istanbul Monday via flights organized by the United States government. The sixth evacuated with his family, who was also in Egypt, over the weekend.
According to Geis, the students did not know the evacuation location until they boarded their plane. Flights left as soon as possible to one of three "safe-haven" locations in Istanbul, Athens and Cyprus and flight destinations were determined based on the airport that was able to receive the plane first.
All U.S. citizens evacuated in this manner were required to sign promissory statements ensuring they would pay for the flight at a later date, once the cost was determined. According to the website for the U.S. embassy in Cairo, all evacuated parties will need to make their own lodging arrangements and plans to return to the U.S.
Although the main AUC campus is in the desert, away from the protests in Cairo, Geis said that Zamalek Island, where the students were living, is not isolated.
"Trouble could have easily spread there," he said, adding that there was a significant concern for the lack of police and the lawlessness that was spreading. "It's absolutely unsafe for students to be at or near the protests."
Geis said the students all expressed interest in staying in Cairo, but that if they had chosen to stay they would have had to continue the semester as non-Elon students.
"Our primary concern absolutely is student safety and well-being," he said. "We would not be able to support them there."
Any classes they would have taken would appear on their transcripts as transfer credits and the grades would be reflected in their Elon GPAs. Elon-administered financial aid also would not have applied.
Geis would not release the names of the students abroad, but said the five that evacuated to Istanbul will soon head to Israel to start the new semester at the University of Haifa. He said he was not informed of the plans of the sixth student.
There are no current plans to cancel the fall program at AUC, but Geis said the situation will be monitored closely and Elon will not allow students to go if there are safety concerns. He said it is not typical to allow students to apply for multiple programs, but that they are looking into the possibility of allowing students interested in AUC to choose a backup program.
"This is a fluid situation," Geis said. "If someone had called us a week ago, we did not think there would be any issues for fall. This can change as the situation evolves."
He said he expects the decision to be made within the coming days.