All CU campuses suspend university-sponsored student travel to Mexico

Personal safety concerns cited in policy move, effective immediately

Citing personal safety risks to travelers, university leadership at each of the University of Colorado campuses has suspended university-sponsored student travel to Mexico until further notice.

University of Colorado at Boulder Interim Provost Russell Moore announced that all CU-Boulder study abroad programs in Mexico and one CU academic program for undergraduates have been temporarily suspended for summer and fall because of continuing safety concerns in the country. The suspension also applies to students at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, which partners with the Boulder campus in providing study abroad programs.

The University of Colorado Denver also announced the suspension of travel for all university-sponsored travel to Mexico for students on the UC Denver campus and Anschutz Medical Campus. The move was in response to a travel warning issued July 16 by the U.S. State Department and follows the university policy regarding international travel by students.

CU-Boulder sponsors study abroad programs in Mexico in Guadalajara, Guanajuato, Oaxaca and Monterrey. Students and their families were notified earlier this month of the decision to suspend the study abroad programs, and students in CU's International and National Voluntary Service Training, or INVST, community studies program will not be traveling into the country 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," Moore said. "After reviewing the U.S. Department of State Travel Warning for Mexico, the July 9 Overseas Security Advisory Council report on escalating violence in Mexico, the June 29 Warden Report for Guadalajara warning of the deteriorating security environment there, and news reports on rising drug cartel violence within Mexico, we concluded that it is currently not safe for our study abroad or INVST students to remain in Mexico."

The Office of International Education will continue to monitor reports from the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Overseas Advisory Council and the news media, and will continue to remain in close touch with its program partners in Mexico, Dando said.

The university will review the decision as reports change regarding the safety and security environment in Mexico, Moore said.

UC Denver students may appeal the suspension following guidelines provided by the Office of Global Education, 303-315-2230. For more regarding UC Denver-related travel to Mexico or any international location, please contact the Office of International Affairs at 303-315-2230.