On Dec. 22, Chancellor Kent Syverud sent out a campus-wide email stating that Syracuse University’s spring 2022 semester start date was delayed due to the sharp increase in COVID-19 cases and the rapid contagiousness of the new omicron variant. While many students planning to remain on campus for the next semester may have been rather unfazed, students with plans to spend their spring semester abroad had different reactions.

Outside of the realm of SU, travel bans were being consistently pushed out each day. SU offers a variety of abroad programs in countries including Chile, England, France, Italy, and Spain. The fear of SU shutting down abroad programs lay on top of the existing worry that individual countries would enact travel bans that would prevent students from having the opportunity to enter certain countries.

Allie Schuster, a junior public relations major, says she interpreted the email from the chancellor as an indication that she may not have the chance to go to London. Though it was only a week for on campus students, it was not clear if the same delay would apply to study abroad.

“I heard nothing from the abroad office after the email from Kent. I wasn’t sure if it even applied to me because I don’t leave for London until the end of January, and classes start in February, but I hadn’t heard anything to confirm otherwise. It definitely felt like I, and other abroad students, were left completely in the dark,” Schuster said. She ended up emailing the Study Abroad Office for clarification but was met with a vague response that affirmed that more information would come.

Schuster expressed her disappointment that the abroad office did not make any form of initiation. Other programs, such as the Newhouse New York City program, reached out to students the same day the campus-wide email was sent out to inform them that the program would be following SU’s semester schedule.

Each individual abroad program carried the threat of travel bans, and there were other obstacles for each opportunity as well. “I was really worried because from what I heard, omicron cases specifically in the U.K. were climbing. I was really stressed that the semester would be canceled and I would have to somehow find housing on campus and enroll in new classes,” Schuster said.

Meghan Domroes, a junior in the international relations program, is headed to Spain in early February, and her housing looks a little different from the London students. The London program provides flat housing, whereas the Spain program is built on a foundation of homestays.

With the ever changing climate of COVID-19 and omicron, having students live in an environment that is not contained to just SU students, but rather multiple families, makes the risk all that much greater.

Domroes had a very similar reaction to Schuster when she saw the email from Kent pop up in her inbox. “I don’t remember receiving any information from SU Abroad. I wish we would have received correspondence reassuring us that we were going or at least saying that they were monitoring the issue. I was incredibly worried. In December I thought that we were going to get canceled at the last minute. I really would have liked acknowledgment of the issue. To my knowledge it was complete radio silence on the word ‘omicron.’ It would have been nice for the abroad office to even mention that they were taking the issue into account.”

As the spring semester starts for on-campus students, abroad students are still left in the dark. There have been no formal announcements made regarding a cancellation for London and Spain, so students are moving forward as planned. “There has not been any notifications from the program to my knowledge concerning omicron, just vaccine and booster requirements, immigration procedures and more logistics. I’m feeling OK about going, and I’m very excited. I’m interested to see what Spain will be like in omicron,” Domroes said.

The SU administration should provide an open and transparent form of communication with students moving forward — specifically with regards to the fluctuating circumstances with omicron. Due to the lack of communication over winter break relating to schedule changes in abroad programs, many students feel that they are going into the most exciting semester of their lives without enough notice of potential changes in plans. It is up to SU Abroad to ease those anxieties.

Charlotte Kho is a junior magazine, news & digital journalism major. Her column appears biweekly. She can be reached at ckho01@syr.edu.

Published on January 25, 2022 at 12:11 am