Pepperdine students overseas take an extra educational field trip during the European Social Forum in Florence
By Sarah Carrillo
News Assistant
This week as many as 150,000 people may gather in Florence to march in an anti-war rally sponsored by the European Social Forum. Pepperdine students living in the Florence villa, however, will be far away from the action.
Dean of International Programs Dr. William Phillips and members of Pepperdine’s Security Council for International Programs decided to send the residents of the Florence house on a bonus educational field trip for the duration of the ESF conference.
Because past experiences with the ESF have resulted in riots and injured protestors, Phillips said he believed it would be best to take Pepperdine students out of the situation.
“Gatherings of this sort lately seem to attract a hoodlum fringe who are bent on violence,” Phillips said in an e-mail interview. “… Every individual in the International Programs takes very seriously the responsibility we have to do everything within reason to safeguard our students and faculty when they are overseas. While the Social Forum’s meeting in Florence may take place peacefully, there is no way to guarantee that outcome. Given the opportunity to take preemptive action and avoid a possible problem that could be combined with an unparalleled added educational experience for our students, this really wasn’t a difficult choice.”
Due to the travel conditions, Florence students were unable to be reached for comment. However, Lindsey Besecker, the Florence correspondent for the Graphic, said that while the situation is being called an evacuation, it feels more like a vacation.
According to a U.S. Embassy announcement, the ESF will be meeting from Nov. 6-9 in Florence. The location for the conference is less than a mile from the Florence house. The gathering will end with an anti-war rally and march between the Fortezza da Basso and Campo di Marte area of Florence.
According to Phillips, the Florence students left the house Tuesday and traveled by bus to Venice, Verona and Vicenza. Then, the students will travel to Bergamo to meet up with students from Pepperdine’s programs in Heidelberg, London and Lyon for a spiritual retreat.
Almost all of the Florence students were already planning to attend the retreat, giving the administration an opportunity to combine an educational excursion with it and keep Pepperdine students safe.
A total of 122 students from the four programs will be participating, with 41 from the Florence program. The 14 students from the Florence house who will not be a part of the retreat will have the weekend to travel.
All of the students will spend Sunday night in Bergamo and then leave for Florence on Monday.
Classes will not be held during the trip, but many teachers are providing alternate assignments that will coincide with the places visited. Classes will resume Monday evening.
While traveling, students will be able to see many prominent sights in Italy.
“In Venice they will visit the Palazzo Ducale, the Basilica San Marco and visit the Academy of Venice, where they will see many great works of art,” Phillips said. “In Verona, they will explore the first century Roman Amphitheatre.”
Pepperdine is not the only group that is taking precautions. Other schools including Georgetown and Gonzaga said that they would be closing their schools in Florence for the duration of the conference and all of the banks and many of the businesses in Florence will be closed as well, Phillips said.
Despite this potentially dangerous situation, Phillips said he is still comfortable with Pepperdine students living there.
“There is no longer a truly ‘safe’ place anywhere in the world,” Phillips said. “Many German tourists agencies have listed Santa Monica as a dangerous place because three German tourists were shot on the beach there during an armed robbery. This week it was reported that foreign visitors to the U.S. have fallen dramatically this year, because they don’t think the U.S. is safe. … Welcome to the ‘post 9-11’ world.’ ”
The ESF has told Italian authorities that the event will be peaceful. The group’s Web site describes it as “an open meeting space designed for in-depth reflection, democratic debate of ideas, … and planning of effective action among entities and movements of civil society that are engaged in building a planetary society centered on the human being.”
November 07, 2002