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| Tyler Hill 1991-2007 People to People Student Ambassadors Tokyo, Japan Art by Michael Reagan, Fallen Heroes Project |
President Barack Obama's 100,000 strong initiative encourages our future, our children, to study abroad in China and many other countries. The well-being of our most important national treasure, our children - our future, is not protected by ANY law. CBS DC quoted in March of 2014, "Michelle Obama touted the power of study abroad programs as an important portion of U.S. foreign policy." 100K Strong must do more. Our students need to be 100K strongER.
America is in a cyber war with China. Chinese military officials are charged with stealing United States data as tensions escalate. A United States student in China was arrested for sharing intellectual property. The issue at hand is a hot topic. So much so that The FBI counters with intelligence papers about higher ed and national security. Our students are not prepared to advocate for themselves. There is no duty of care or mandated duty to inform. Our students do not have a bill of rights.
Students abroad are not diplomats. They do not have diplomatic passport identification or immunity. Students abroad are not Ambassadors. No one in the United States government is mandated to investigate the death, assault or injury of an American student in a foreign country. No one knows how many have died or been killed because there is no mandate to publicly report. There is no duty of care or bill of rights even though the Office of Inspector General (OIG) brought attention to the problem in 2010.
Our best and brightest are being enticed into countries where the United States Department of State has issued active alerts and warnings, even when Fulbright Scholars are not allowed to study there: "Just sign this waiver."
In March 2014, many students from big 10 universities were retained in Merida, Venezuela (University of Andes) weeks after Fulbright scholars were evacuated by order of Chief of Mission. The program retaining them was VEN-USA. VEN-USA is a mom and pop shop of Ruby and her relative who apparently do not have enough resources to update their under-construction website. A parent reported to ClearCause that Ruby was coercing the students with, "You'll hurt our program if you go back. Things are calming down." US DOS issued an American citizens communication stating things could flair up at any time.
As students are retained in Venezuela, the same universities cancelled future study abroad programs to Venezuela because of safety concerns. The big 10 universities stated these students are young adults and can make their own decisions. Fulbright students are young adults also. They don't get to decide.
There are no rules from the United States on students abroad as a matter of foreign policy. The same big 10 universities countered an offering to study abroad in Russia, as President Barack Obama calls for American citizens to stand in solidarity with Ukraine. Russia is a prejudice country with horrific hate crimes against people of color and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender origins (LGBT). Our students do not know how to advocate for themselves. They do not have adequate information to make informed decisions on programs. They 'trust' their university.
Schools very often outsource to third parties. These programs place waivers under student's faces declaring, "Sign this or you won't get a refund, your credits, or graduate. Good luck getting home. You are on your own." Programs are not forthcoming with information when students die. ClearCause parents have been told to stop calling and that their questions will not be answered by popular universities. These programs investigate themselves and continue with business as usual.
Governor Cuomo is pushing forward a kickback bill. Programs overcharge and line their pockets with study abroad perks from third party programs.
ClearCause supports President Obama's safety initiatives on American school campuses, managing costs of higher education. Report cards inform and protect. ClearCause also supports 100K Strong - but we must do more to protect our students, mandate duty of care, provide a bill of rights, report tragedy and incidents to outgoing students, and sanction poor providers. There must be guard rails and safety nets.
Please meet invisible students who have died abroad. Help us protect our students abroad - zero preventable deaths and injuries on programs abroad is an awesome goal. Please use your voice. Help us advocate for protections by sending an email to your policy makers.
Safety Means the World to Our Students on Programs Abroad. Our Students Mean the World to Us!
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