In summer of 2018, one short term study abroad trip and one club trip were scheduled to visit Tlaquepaque, Mexico. However, because of an advisory warning, Drury issued a travel ban on that part of Mexico and both trips were cancelled.

Jalisco is the state that Tlaquepaque resides in. On TravelState.gov, they have Jalisco coded as a level 3 out of 4 on the travel advisory scale.

Their website states, “Reconsider travel due to crime. Violent crime and gang activity are common in parts of Jalisco state.”

However, a little further down on the page, it contends that there are no restrictions for stays in tourist areas of the state, including the area that Tlaquepaque is in.

Drew Moore is a junior who was originally planning to do the study abroad program with three other students this summer when the trip was cancelled. He is also heavily involved in the DUkes, so he signed up for that trip after the study abroad was cancelled, and the DUkes trip was subsequently cancelled as well.

Moore believes that the decision to cancel the trips was made in haste without consideration for location.

“From talking to Dr. Sokol, who was leading the study abroad trip, it’s like if something that happened in northern Missouri near Illinois and other countries restricted travel to Springfield,” said Moore.

I visited the Tlaquepaque visitor’s guide online, and the website helped to explain the location in relation to crime. Most of Mexico’s crime rates come from Northern Mexico, and the closest crime center is Monterrey, which is 400 miles away.

Tlaquepaque is also Springfield’s sister city, which has been built on decades of international cooperation. A Springfield Sister City council member, Cindy Jobe, visited the DUkes while they were planning their trip and assured the students that she had visited Tlaquepaque many times and that she felt very comfortable in the city.

Furthermore, on Tlaquepaque visitor’s guide website, they had these statistics about crime.

Assaults per 1,000 people

Mexico: 2.4

United States: 7.6

Car thefts per 1,000

Mexico: 1.5

United States: 3.8

Firearm homicide rate per 100,000

Mexico: 3.7

United States: 3.6

Rapes per 1.000

Mexico: 0.12

United States: 0.30

Even including the border of Mexico, statistically you are more likely to be assaulted or stolen from in the United States than if you traveled to Mexico, especially a place as calm and quiet as Tlaquepaque.

“I think that administration didn’t really think through it all the way,” said Moore. “I don’t think that Tlaquepaque is a dangerous place.”

Regardless of how dangerous or not Tlaquepaque is, Drury administration pulled the plug on the trips before asking the participating students, which is what many of us, including myself, are upset about.

“I understand that Drury didn’t want to be responsible for us. But I also understand that we are all adults, and I think that we should have had some say about whether or not we were willing to take the travel risks,” said Moore.

Ultimately, this decision denied several people opportunities. As a senior, this was my only chance to get to travel with the DUkes, which I have wanted to do ever since they went to Japan. For Moore, it was his only chance to study abroad.

“It’s really disheartening because this trip has been cancelled on me more than once. It’s heartbreaking knowing that there’s an experience that Drury offers that I tried to take advantage of but couldn’t,” said Moore.

Moore had already put a significant amount of money towards his study abroad experience. The money was refunded, but it was too late for him to sign up for a different trip.

“For me, this is the last time I would have been able to go. So now another study abroad will be out of the question,” said Moore. “I wanted to go for the education and the experience, but now I will never get another opportunity to travel in this way.”

Drury students often try to get the most out of their undergraduate experience, but red tape and bureaucracy routinely get in the way. Under current administration, both at Drury and on a federal level, there may be no telling what future travel will be restricted.