When Emily Marotta planned her study abroad trip to the colonial town of Puebla, Mexico, she didn’t expect her excitement to be stifled by a strict University policy that prevents travel to countries on the State Department travel advisory list.

“It was really disappointing,” Marotta, a senior from Cleveland, said. “I’ve already been to Costa Rica and it wasn’t what I was looking for in a study abroad experience.”

The 18 students expecting to stay in Puebla for their summer program were unable to do so after the State Department reissued a travel warning April 12, forcing the Office of Study Abroad to suspend the program. Sue Lorenz, director of the Office of Study Abroad, would not account for all of the students, but said Marotta and 14 other students were diverted to San José, Costa Rica.

“It’s a very, very large city. It’s dirty, it’s loud, it’s polluted and there’s a lot of people,” Marotta said. “A smaller town was more of the experience I wanted because you’re able to create relationships with people who live there. I came back with no friends from Costa Rica.”

Marotta said despite the change, she appreciated the Office of Study Abroad’s involvement in ensuring she could earn the same course credit in Costa Rica. As a senior, she said earning the appropriate credits was her first priority and office administrators were helpful in helping her meet graduation requirements as a Spanish and Latin American Studies major.

Lorenz said the office did all that it could to give the students the most similar possible experience to the Mexico trip.

“I can see the disappointment, but it’s just not worth the risk,” Lorenz said. “Every country offers its own special thing, but we were able to give the students the academic coursework they needed, in a Spanish-language speaking country, with no loss of money to them.”

The travel advisory warned Americans against traveling to specific Mexican cities, all of which were northern border towns. Puebla is located in south-central Mexico, more than 1,000 miles from the cities listed in the travel advisory.

Lorenz said the Office of Study abroad was forced to to cancel the program because of an umbrella policy that allowed for no “geographical discretion.” The policy has received widespread criticism for its inflexible regulations. Lorenz said she would gladly take the criticism of being too cautious rather than risk the safety of any student the University was responsible for.

“If we allowed exceptions and an incident did occur, we’d be criticized for sending people anyway,” Lorenz said.

She said that with more than 600 students abroad this summer, it would be irresponsible to “take a calculated risk.” She said that by sending students to a place that may have a violent environment could distract the office from doing their best in ensuring the best service to students in other programs.

Last summer the program was canceled because of H1N1 concerns, but Lorenz said the University planned to re-establish the Puebla program again next summer. She said the threat of drug cartels and other violence affected student mobility, as well as the interplay between the U.S. and Mexican economies.

“The current violence relates to competition over trade routes to the US market,” said Stuart Day, Chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. ”Despite the fact that much of the narco violence in Mexico is seen in seven states, including the central state of Michoacán, I understand that Study Abroad has a major responsibility to the safety of our students.”

When the University suspended the program scheduled in Puebla, they also pulled the fee paid to Universidad de las Americas Puebla for the use of their facilities. For administrators in Puebla, the economic withdrawal is not near as damaging as the affect on the University’s reputation.

“We are a very international university, so misconceptions like this really do damage our image,” said Jose Luis Machorro, recruitment advisor. “Puebla is the second safest city in the country, so we don’t face the problems of drug cartels present in border towns like Monterrey.”

Luis Machorro said this is the second year American universities have chosen not follow through with their programs. He said the University understood the obligation to protect students, but hoped the generalized fear did not become a habit.

“It’s like us issuing a danger warning for the U.S. because there’s a concern in Seattle that doesn’t allow our students to go to Sacramento,” Luis Macharro said. “It just doesn’t seem to make much sense.”