The Office of Programs Abroad is again trying to generate interest in the Tufts-in-Ghana program, which was suspended in 1998 after a participant was raped while studying in the West African nation. In two weeks the University will review the findings of a consultant hired to evaluate safety concerns and suggest improvements to the African campus. If the report deems the campus safe, Tufts should allow its intrepid students to enroll in the Ghana program. The University, moreover, should announce its decision well before the Feb. 1 application deadline to give students ample time to make their choice.
The University exercised appropriate caution in suspending the program. Along with the rape, there have been at least three instances of sexual assault since Tufts arrived in Ghana in 1996. While the University must consider liability issues, new safety measures are in place, including a special dormitory for international students. Many schools have maintained programs in troubled regions, such as Israel, and Tufts correctly allows its students to take leaves of absence to enroll in programs across the globe. With US foreign policy coming increasingly under fire in the Muslim world, the study abroad experience has never been more meaningful, as Americans must increase their understanding of foreign cultures to comprehend the war against terrorism and help prevent future conflicts. Student safety should be a University priority, but depriving students of unique opportunities out of excessive caution would be a mistake.
Among ten study abroad programs, Tufts-in-Ghana is the only option in Africa, a continent too often ignored in the American educational system. The program has never been as popular as its European counterparts, attracting at most ten students in a semester, and the instances of assault will undoubtedly further discourage student interest. To compensate for student fears and unfamiliarity, the University must be quick and decisive in its deliberations, and if it reinstates the program, must aggressively promote the new option.
