Though it has not been officially reinstated, Tufts in Ghana is accepting applications for the Fall 2002 and Spring 2003 program. The program is awaiting an administrative decision on its future based on the evaluation of an advisor hired last semester.
The program was suspended two years ago by former vice president of Arts and Sciences Mel Bernstein after a student was violently raped at the Accra campus in Ghana. The incident was the fourth such rape since 1998.
Now, however, the University is seriously considering its restoration, though the absence of Bernstein has complicated the administrative decision-making process.
Janna Behrens, who is responsible for assessing the prospects of restoring the Ghana program, said that while the University of Ghana would like to re-establish a relationship, Tufts is approaching the issue with caution.
"I believe the administration is trying to be sensitive to the time factor but is taking the necessary time to consider all aspects of my report," Behrens said. "If it is to be reinstated, they want it to be done in the best way possible."
Behrens said that the study abroad office accepted applications because the administrative decision might come too late for the admissions process to be completed. "Come the decision, if it is to go ahead, we can't make a rapid recruitment process. It takes time," she said. When students pick up an application, they are made aware of the situation and are told that they should apply to other programs as well.
Tufts, in conjunction with the University of Ghana, is conducting a thorough examination of the safety of its students studying in Ghana. At issue is a difference in cultures which some say leads Ghanaians to misinterpret certain behaviors considered normal in the US.
In years past, an orientation with police and US Embassy personnel on the Ghana campus has attempted to teach American students how to "maneuver around in the safest way possible." Behrens said that the orientation is probably not sufficient.
"We want students to understand how important cultural sensitivity is to having a safe and successful experience," she said. "Life at the University of Ghana campus is very different from life on the Tufts Medford campus. Students must know and respect these differences because it will allow them to have the best experience possible."
Senior Carl Nee-Kofi Mould-Millman is from Ghana and knows several students who attend or have attended the University of Ghana. Mould-Millman said that Tufts needs to provide those students who travel to Ghana with a more thorough orientation while concurrently working with native Ghanaian students.
"Tufts needs to screen and selectively recruit Ghanaian counterparts in the university who would work side by side with the American students in helping them to get a feel for the culture and become more acclimatized," Mould-Millman said.
A reinstated Tufts-in-Ghana would be one of nine study abroad programs sponsored by Tufts.
