Dear Members of the Middlebury Community,

After careful consideration we have made the difficult decision to cancel all study abroad for the fall 2020 semester. This decision applies to the Middlebury Schools Abroad as well as study abroad on externally sponsored programs.

Although many institutions opted to cancel all fall study abroad at once, we decided to make our decisions program-by-program based on the specific circumstances in each of the countries in which our Schools operate. We worked closely with our staff abroad to determine each School’s viability given its program structures and local COVID-19 conditions. Although in a few instances we determined some Schools Abroad could not run because of local conditions, it was the travel restrictions—both in the U.S. and in some host countries—that eventually became the more frequent roadblock. The U.S. Department of State’s Global Level 4 Health Advisory (Do Not Travel) that has been in place since the spring has not yet been lifted. Under these circumstances, we cannot support fall 2020 study abroad that involves international travel.

While we hope that many of our students who were planning to study abroad in the fall will be able to take advantage of this opportunity in the spring or fall of 2021, we know that for some this will not be possible. For this we are very sorry. This news has also been disappointing for our staff abroad and in Vermont, whose job it is to guide and support students through these immersive experiences that can be such a defining moment in a student’s undergraduate years.

 

Sincerely,

Carlos Vélez

Dean of International Programs