St. Thomas students await the Travel Risk Advisory Committee‘s decision on the Rome Empower and London Business study abroad programs after they were canceled during the 2020-2021 school year due to COVID-19.

Rome Empower and the London Business semester are the only study abroad opportunities sponsored by St. Thomas for the 2021-22 school year. Rome Empower, which was originally planned for fall 2020 then postponed to fall 2021, transferred its initial programming with some limitations in mind.

“I’m sure we’re going to have to wear masks inside and probably (on) public transportation. I think my own feeling is that by September, most people will be vaccinated in Italy and certainly all the people on this trip will certainly have to be vaccinated,” Rome Empower professor of organic chemistry Tom Ippoliti said.

Faculty and students anticipating their study abroad trips will officially know if they’re allowed to travel on June 15. According to its website, the St. Thomas Travel Risk Advisory Committee determines the safety and health risks of traveling abroad.

“We are looking at  local, national, and international guidelines  and requirements including the COVID-19 transmission rates at host locations, and the local infrastructure’s ability to support the community and the presence of study abroad students,” associate director of university international programs Dan Albertson said.

For nearly 25 years, the London Business trip was scheduled during the fall semester. Due to COVID-19 and a shift in the business curriculum in fall 2019, the trip was pushed to spring semester.

“It bought us a little more flexibility, hoping that COVID-19 will continue to clear up. Shooting for fall 2021 would be a little more nerve-wracking. It wasn’t just COVID-19, but it was also that it makes more sense now with an update to the business undergraduate major,” senior director of undergraduate business Corey Eakins said.

Though optimistic about traveling abroad, Eakins emphasises the importance of remaining practical and embracing COVID-19 safety precautions.

“I think we’re going to be there, but we’re also having conversations and being prepared and talking to students about being realistic,” said Eakins.

Sergey Barabanov, one of the professors leading the London Business semester, is hopeful for a normal London experience.

“We will be able to enjoy and go on trips together. We will be able to hang out in groups. The students will be living with their host families, doing regular activities like we used to do,” Barabanov said.

First-year Sarah Montgomery is excited about the idea of the London Business semester but recognizes that the safety precautions will be nothing new.

“If we do go in 2022 and everything is still socially distanced and masked, that’ll just be my new normal. That would’ve been the third year of (COVID-19), and so at that point, my entire college experience will be social distance and masks, so I won’t really know anything else,” Montgomery said.

Josie Morss can be reached at mors7544@stthomas.edu.