As major protests continue across Europe in countries such as France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Albania and Greece, ACU’s Study Abroad programs continue to operate as usual.

Mark Barneche, executive director of international education and study abroad, said that the office is monitoring the protests and although some have been in locations near students, no one has been affected.

In Spain, over the last several weeks, tens of thousands of people have gathered around the country for mostly peaceful protests in support of the country’s public pension system ahead of the Nov. 29 general election, according to an Associated Press article. This comes after an 87-year-old woman was evicted from her home.

Although the protests have been mostly peaceful, Barneche said that students are encouraged to avoid any area where protests could be happening.

Two weeks ago, students studying abroad in Leipzig, Germany, were also advised to avoid protests during an educational field trip to Athens, Greece. Thousands of students and teachers had gathered there to demonstrate in support of increased higher education funding.

Greysen Williams, sophomore marketing major from Leawood, Kansas, is currently studying abroad in Leipzig. She said it was strange because, although the Study Abroad office sent an email warning students about the protest, no one had to change plans, and she never saw any signs the protest was happening.

“We were told the next day that there was a protest and that it was peaceful, but literally did not see that at all, which is crazy because we were out and about and really didn’t see anything at all,” Williams said.

She said that everyone on the trip is aware of the protests across Europe, but she said it hasn’t affected anyone they know as much as students on campus in Abilene.

As usual, to keep students safe, every student studying abroad is required to submit a form explaining where they will be over the weekend and where they will be staying.

Barneche said the submissions are sent to a system that alerts him, program directors and other members of a global travel advisory committee about potentially dangerous events in students’ locations.

“We have had lots of activity within our global travel advisory committee,” Barneche said. “Many travel advisories have been sent out to students since late last week, including planned protest routes and sizes of expected protest populations.”

He said that although they have been monitoring alerts and sending out information to students, none of the program’s plans have been affected by what is happening.

Barneche also said that from the beginning of their programs, students are explicitly told to avoid areas and situations that could be unsafe, but he said that although students should avoid protest areas, he still does not feel like any of the cities where this is happening are unsafe right now.

“We’ve reiterated some of those things, especially to them in very recent days,” Barneche said. “The EU is in a moment of really vibrant political discourse and change, and some of that is good for our students to be there  as witnesses. I would just prefer that they steer clear of personal participation in those things that don’t really concern them.”

Barneche said that if he or any of the other members of the global travel advisory committee are alerted to a dangerous situation, they have several means of contacting students quickly to make sure they are safe, but during his time at ACU, he has never had to do that.