College Loosens Travel Abroad Policy

Under significant pressure from students and faculty, the College has repealed its policy of withholding funding and credit for travel abroad in countries identified by the State Department as particularly risky.

That policy, which affected travel to Israel, Iran, Kenya, Lebanon, Nigeria, and seven other countries, was instituted last fall.

Restrictions on Harvard sponsorship of travel to countries with the strongest State Department warnings, such as Haiti, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, will remain in place.

The State Department’s travel advisories range from those which warn U.S. citizens to avoid travel altogether to those which suggest exercising caution during travel.

After considering issues of student safety and Harvard’s liability, the College said last fall that it would withhold credit and funding for student study, research and travel to countries with any kind of State Department advisory.

Under that policy, “students could not go to do study or research in many countries faculty had felt had an acceptable level of risk,” said Director of the Office of International Programs Jane Edwards, who added that she felt the old policy was “too restrictive.”

“We feel that for an academic institution of this kind, we need to be able to accept that level of responsibility,” Edwards said.

The College’s change of policy comes after protests from students and faculty over the past year’s restrictions. Over 400 students, faculty, and staff signed an online petition last spring asking the College to change its travel abroad policy. Undergraduates, professors, and administrators had expressed concern about the extent of Harvard’s use of the State Department’s list, which included almost 30 countries.

Early this summer, Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 asked a task force­—including Associate Dean of the College Georgene Herschbach, Director of the Committee on Education Abroad John H. Coatsworth, Harvard College Professor Jorge I. Dominguez, Edwards, a representative from the General Counsel, a student, and others—to reevaluate Harvard’s travel policy.

The committee met twice, most recently this week, and recommended that Harvard revert to its old policy, as well as require that students who want to travel to countries with State Department warnings complete a new waiver form. After consulting with the Faculty Council, Gross adopted the policy changes.

Other locations now on the College’s list of countries approved for sponsored travel include Colombia, Liberia, Philippines, Zimbabwe, Uzbekistan, Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the West Bank and Gaza.

-Staff writer Tina Wang can be reached at tinawang@fas.harvard.edu.