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Media Contacts

Richard Stryker
IU Overseas Study
strykerr@indiana.edu
812-855-9304

Last modified: Friday, April 5, 2002

Media Advisory

EDITORS: Because of the escalating violence in the Middle East, Indiana University has advised four students now studying in Israel to return home. A summer program involving eight students in an archaeology dig also has been canceled.

Richard Stryker, IU director of overseas study, said the decision on the IU undergraduates was made because of student safety. He said a course in the fall also probably will be canceled.

Three students are involved in academic-year and semester programs for IU credit at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. A fourth student is studying at Tel Aviv University. The summer program would have been in a rural area near the desert settlement of Tel Bet Shemesh.

"We have been monitoring the situation in the Middle East very closely over the past several months and have been in regular contact with our students there," Stryker explained. "Our students who want to study in Israel are very passionate about going there, but we are comfortable with the decision made because it has just become too dangerous. Student safety is our primary concern."

Stryker said the names of the four students will not be released in accordance with student privacy regulations.

Several other American colleges and universities, including the University of California, Duke University and the University of Colorado, have suspended programs in Israel.

For more information, contact Stryker at 812-855-9304 or strykerr@indiana.edu.