Study abroad students have to register their location for safety

Senior Kacey Newman was at the Eiffel Tower during the 2015 Paris terror attacks.

“Everything was totally normal, even though you would think at the Eiffel Tower things would be more chaotic, but no one was really doing anything,” she said.

Newman said she didn’t realize the attacks had happened until her friend’s family messaged her friend asking if the two of them had heard about the attacks. Newman said they weren’t sure what to do but knew they needed to move.

“We started running away, because we were thinking maybe we were next, and we ran back to our Airbnb which was right next to the Eiffel Tower,” she said.

When UNC’s Global Travel Registry recognizes a potential threat in an area students are studying in, it sends students an email asking them to check in with the University if they are okay. Andrew Hunt, executive assistant in the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, who is in charge of the registry, said every student studying abroad is automatically registered.

“The Global Travel Registry is basically a communication tool,” Hunt said. “Anyone who’s traveling with the University needs to register their itinerary. It’s only to be used to communicate with our affiliates in an emergency situation while abroad.”

Hunt said it is essential that students take all the necessary precautions to remain safe.

“We ask students to make sure all of the weekend jaunts are registered in the travel registry also. If we don’t have information about where a student is registered to be, we don’t know that they’re there to help them,” he said.

If there is an emergency, the registry only contacts those students who are registered to be in that location.

Hunt said UNC has a risk response team that monitors areas where students are studying abroad. If a safety risk is recognized, the team watches the situation and provides advice to students residing there.

Adrienne Cromwell, international student program manager, said each study abroad program holds pre-departure sessions to talk about specific issues of the region.

Cromwell encouraged students to enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program run by the U.S. Department of State which monitors student safety and contacts students if it is determined they are in imminent danger.

“In the last handful of emergencies, we have been able to account for all of our students that were abroad, so the system seems to work,” Cromwell said. “We also reach out to the directors at our partners as well as our colleagues at our partner institutions in the event that something does happen, so together we are able to locate any and all students that are abroad in that region.”

Cromwell said if a student feels their safety is at risk, the first thing they should do is call the UNC Department of Public Safety. DPS then contacts the Study Abroad Office on the student’s behalf.

Cromwell said one thing students can do while studying abroad to stay safe is to keep cultural differences in mind.

“...How we define freedom of speech and how we implement freedom of speech may be completely different in another country, and you need to be mindful of that while you’re in that country to avoid any types of consequences that may result,” she said.

Newman said her university in Florence, Italy, was more active than UNC in reaching out to her after the attacks.

“There are so many students studying abroad it’s hard to account for everyone, especially when they leave the country they’re studying in,” she said.

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