Political unrest in Egypt has fueled the dreams of many in the country and spoiled those of some outside it, such as a group of George Fox University students whose long-awaited trip to the Middle Eastern nation was canceled last month.
Twenty students were registered for the Egypt trip, part of GFU's Juniors Abroad study program, and were looking forward to spending three weeks in May in the country. But after riots and protests erupted in the country in late January, culminating in the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, Juniors Abroad program director Paul Chamberlain and GFU Provost Patrick Allen decided to cancel the trip.
"Once the problems started there, we started watching it pretty closely," Chamberlain said. It took about a week before they decided to cancel the trip, citing the safety of the students.
The U.S. Department of State issued a travel alert for Egypt on Jan. 28, effective through Feb. 28. Two days later, the alert was replaced by the more serious travel warning, which has no expiration date, advising U.S. citizens to defer non-essential travel to the country until further notice. On Feb. 1, the Department of State ordered all non-emergency U.S. government personnel and their families to leave the country; only emergency personnel remain at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo.
"There was just too much uncertainty about conditions in the country to chance a trip this year," Chamberlain explained.
The students had been planning for the trip for nearly a year, after registering in mid-March 2010 in a process that involved camping out overnight in tents, and had been preparing for the trip in a weekly class that started in January. They were looking forward to seeing the pyramids and the Sphinx, visiting pharaohs' tombs and seeing King Tut's treasures, cruising the Nile, snorkeling in the Red Sea and riding camels to the top of Mount Sinai, among other things.
Chamberlain said the students were disappointed about the trip being canceled, but understood the situation.
The school quickly formed an alternate trip to China and Tibet — one of the Egypt trip leaders had led a Juniors Abroad excursion there before — and 12 of the students bumped from the Egypt trip opted to join that one. "It's a little late, but we're able to pull it off," Chamberlain said of the new trip.
The remaining students joined other classes preparing for Juniors Abroad trips, with five choosing Italy, two New Zealand and one Greece.
GFU has sent a Juniors Abroad trip to Egypt for the past four years, but never promises that a trip will go forward as planned. When the students registered for the travel study program last year, the informational packet came with a notice: Please be aware that the university reserves the right, in the event of an international monetary, military, health or other crisis, to cancel or postpone a trip or to make alternate arrangements.
Chamberlain said that in recent years the school has canceled trips to China (the SARS epidemic), the Philippines and Greece (anti-American sentiment). Years ago, trips were also canceled due to the Gulf War.
"Obviously, one of the most important things to us is our student safety," he said.
Students will register next week for the 2012 Juniors Abroad program, and included among the travel options is a tentative trip to Egypt ... but in case that doesn't pan out, GFU already has a backup trip in place.
The informational packet for the 2012 program says, "We are hopeful that that the current unrest in Egypt will subside and we will be able to go to Egypt in May 2012. However, since we cannot predict the future, please be aware that there is potential for this trip to be canceled. If Egypt is not possible, this trip will switch to Australia." The packet includes information on what both trips would entail.
The Juniors Abroad program launched in 1987 and has sent groups of students to every continent except Antarctica. GFU pays transportation and program costs; the students pay for their room and board.