SRJC pulls 22 students in Italy study abroad program amid coronavirus outbreak

Santa Rosa Junior College has canceled its study abroad program in Italy, with health officials warning of the growing threat of the coronavirus in the country and preparing to put much of the northern part of the country on lockdown Sunday.

College administrators initially considered moving their 22 students and one instructor from Florence, Italy, to another European country in the hopes of allowing them to continue their semester abroad. But they ultimately decided to cancel the program entirely amid growing concern over the spread of the virus in Italy, where 5,883 people have been afflicted with the virus and 233 people have died from it as of Saturday. Students in the program were notified of the decision via email early Tuesday morning.

“We had to make a decision to get them out safe,” said Kerry Loewen, the college’s Dean of Arts and Humanities and the Director of Study Abroad. “Everything is just about keeping our students safe. That’s just the bottom line.”

SRJC made the decision in conjunction with the American Institute for Foreign Studies, which makes arrangements for the program such as housing, and the three other local community colleges that participate in the program. There are a total of 90 students in the program.

The college is working to get the 22 SRJC students out of the country by March 11, Loewen said. So far, at least four students have left Italy, said college spokeswoman Erin Bricker.

This decision ends the program about two months earlier than expected - students flew to Italy on Feb. 1 and weren’t supposed to return home until May 1, Bricker said.

“They’re so disappointed,” Loewen said of the students. “We feel terrible for them, but we have to err on the side of caution.”

Loewen said he encouraged the students to participate in the program again next year. But for some, that’s not a possibility.

Anthony Giampaoli, 22, is in his last semester at SRJC. While he knew he that if he went to Italy he would have to miss out on a final season with the college’s ice hockey team, which he’s been a member of for four years, he thought the study abroad experience would be worth it. And he’s upset that it’s ending sooner than expected.

“Most people had worked for like ... months straight earning the money for this trip,” he said. “We’re all just trying to stay positive and stuff, but it does suck.”

Students will get a prorated refund for the fees they paid for the excursions they weren’t able to go on, Loewen said. They’ll also be able to complete their classes online when they return, so they can still earn their credits for the semester.

Even though Giampaoli is “irritated” that the trip was cut short, he’s trying to focus on the memories he’s made in Italy, and enjoy the little time he has left there. Since classes were canceled, he’s been going sightseeing and spending time with his friends before he leaves. He’s supposed to fly out Wednesday.

“This has been a life-changing experience for me,” Giampaoli said. “It sucks that it had to get cut short ... but no matter what school you go to, studying abroad is just an amazing experience and I’m really happy that I did it for the time that I did.”

Giampaoli said the decision to cancel the program didn’t come as a surprise to a lot of his classmates - when other universities started canceling their study abroad programs in Italy, he and his classmates suspected that they would be next.

A couple of students who were nervous about the virus, which causes the disease COVID-19 and has afflicted more than 100,000 people worldwide as of Saturday, even chose to leave before the SRJC canceled the program.

“It’s pretty much like the domino effect,” he said. “After one program went, we’re all going to go.”

Last week, Sonoma State University told its two students studying abroad in South Korea to return home because of the growing risk of the virus there. Earlier this week, administrators also told their seven students in Italy to leave, said university spokesman Paul Gullixson. He added that the university is monitoring all its study abroad programs to see if it needs to pull anymore students, and that the administration is discouraging all nonessential travel.

Jamie Hansen, spokeswoman for the Sonoma County Office of Education, said that if primary and secondary school students are returning from travel programs in countries the CDC has identified as high risk for the coronavirus, such as South Korea, Italy, China and Iran, then they would need to self-quarantine for two weeks before returning to school. She said she had not heard of any situation like that in the county’s secondary schools, though she added that the office doesn’t keep track of that.

Giampaoli said he plans to self-quarantine when he gets back home to Santa Rosa, per the government’s recommendation. Though he himself isn’t too worried about the virus - none of his classmates are ill or experiencing any symptoms - he said fear of the virus is really noticeable in Italy right now. His study abroad program is one of the few left in Florence, and he’s noticed more museums and restaurants starting to close also.

“When I first got here, there (were) hundreds of tourist groups here, and now it’s dead,” he said. “People are leaving by the day.”

That, he thinks, is also what’s making it challenging to leave. His classmates have been getting pretty last-minute notice of their flights from the program coordinators because of difficulties finding flights home.

“It’s really tough for everybody. We’ve never had to do anything like this,” Loewen said of the program cancellation. “It’s happening to almost all the programs. It’s really difficult.”

You can reach Staff Writer Chantelle Lee at 707-521-5337 or chantelle.lee@pressdemocrat.com.