The Leipzig study abroad program canceled its field trip to Turkey earlier this month following concerns over the current war in Iran.

Instead, the program went on an educational field trip to Athens, Corinth, and the islands of Aegina in Greece, after the program to Turkey was canceled. The group was set to travel to Istanbul and the region of Cappadocia, where they planned to learn about Islam compared to Christianity, said Olivia Crist, a student in the Leipzig program.

Crist, senior finance major from Valley Center, California, said the group was initially sad about the switch from Turkey to Greece.

“God is so good in how he protects, because I was really excited to go to Turkey, but then when I heard it got canceled, I weirdly had so much peace,” Crist said. “Like, yes, I was disappointed, but I had this weird sense of peace of like I know God is protecting us from something we cannot see.”

Around four months ago, the university formed a global risk and security group, as a subgroup of the university’s emergency operations team, said Mark Barneche, executive director for international education and study abroad. When the U.S. launched its initial strikes on Iran, the group met to assess the safety of the Leipzig group going to Turkey.

Barneche said the trip was not only canceled for safety concerns, but out of fear that transportation in and out of Turkey may be affected.

“Our chief concern is not that bodily harm would come to our students in Turkey or their safety in Istanbul or in central rural Turkey where the group was planning to travel,” said Barneche. “It was more, ‘What are the ramifications of a potential missile strike in Turkey that could suspend our transportation and our ability to get them out of the country?’”

At the time this story was written, there had been no missile strikes directly in Turkey. However, NATO air defense systems in the Mediterranean have intercepted three ballistic missiles from Iran headed towards Turkish airspace, according to a report from Al Jazeera.

The Leipzig program typically travels to Greece for its educational field trip, so when the Turkey trip was canceled, Barneche said they had to scramble to pull together an alternative trip, using their contacts and knowledge from past trips.

Outside of the university’s group trips, the school monitors where students go on their weekend trips, using the State Department’s 4-level travel advisory system, to ensure the students remain safe, Barneche said. 

“We always want people to know that safety is our priority,” Barneche said. “But we feel that beyond heightened awareness and beyond the need to curb travel to certain regions of the world, that our students in programs remain safe and able to operate normally.”