CU-Boulder suspends study abroad in Mexico because of drug violence

By Brittany Anas
Posted: 07/22/2010 02:09:00 PM MDT

Citing concerns about drug violence in Mexico, the University of Colorado announced today that it is suspending study abroad programs in the country because it's not safe for students.

The Boulder campus sponsors study abroad programs in Mexico in Guadalajara, Guanajuato, Oaxaca and Monterrey. The decision will impact the plans of only four study abroad students.

Students and their families have been notified of the decision to suspend the study abroad programs this fall, and students in CU's International and National Voluntary Service Training, or INVST, community studies program will not be traveling into the country this week for a scheduled field experience. The INVST program is a service-learning program at CU-Boulder, not a study abroad program.

Two students were planning to attend a study abroad program in Guadalajara, one for summer and one for fall, and two students were planning to study in Guanajuato for the fall semester, according to Mary Dando, CU-Boulder's director of Study Abroad Programs.

No students were planning to study in Monterrey or Oaxaca for this summer or fall. The Office of International Education will work with students planning to go to Mexico this fall to find alternate locations for a study abroad experience.

“This is a very difficult decision that was not made lightly,â€