[Studyabroadadvise] Sweet Briar College JYF

[Margaret Scouten]

[Jyfadvise] Sweet Briar College JYF

Margaret Scouten mscouten@sbc.edu
Tue, 25 Sep 2001 13:50:58 -0400



Dear colleagues,

    Last week, I asked Dr. John Lambeth, Resident Director 2001-2002, to

share  his thoughts about the tragedy in the US,  which I would forward
to you.
Although you have already  been informed about the events in Tours,  I
hope
that you would appreciate his remarks.

    As you are aware,  students will leave Tours on Friday, September
28,
accompanied by Dr. Lambeth, for Paris.
 They will stop for lunch in  the  beautiful city of Chartres, where
they will  visit
Chartres cathedral, a masterpiece of Gothic architecture built in
1194-1260,
with magnificent stained glass windows.

    The group will leave  Chartres around  2:00 p.m. and  will arrive in

Paris around 4 p.m where they will meet their host families at our Paris

location at the Alliance Française  building.   They will be free over
the weekend to relax and visit with their new  family .   Orientation
meetings  will be held at the Sweet Briar location, 34, rue de Fleurus,
beginning at 9:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.  These meetings  will be conducted by
both Dr. Lambeth and Mme Lucy Hervier, our Paris based  Assistant , to
discuss Paris universities.

    The office  telephone and fax numbers in  Paris are:

   Phone:    011-33-1-45-48-79-30  (9:a.m. - 5 p.m.)

    Fax:    011-33-1-45-49-27-52

 Dr. Lambeth's Cell phone (in case of emergency only) :
011-33-6-62-39-16-72

    Please rest assured that we will  keep you  updated about the
program.

Sincerely yours,

Margaret Scouten
Director




   I awoke Wednesday morning, September 12 at about 6 AM with the
distinct
   impression of a nightmare in which thousands of people had died. Then

I
   remembered that it wasn't a nightmare. I had watched all of the
terrible images
   on French TV until midnight. How many times had they replayed the
second plane
   crashing into the WTC and then images of the towers collapsing? Now I

had to
   prepare the meeting with the students at 10 AM. What could anyone say

about such
   a terrifying and heinous attack?
   Carol Denis and I met with the academic director of the Institut de
Touraine,
   Monsieur Chalabi, at 8 AM. Monsieur Chalabi just started his job at
the Institut
   the beginning of September. His family is still in St Etienne. Carol
and I were
   reassured by his organization and sensitivity.  The Institut was
putting three
   phones at the disposal of our students who wanted to contact their
families. A
   large screen TV with CNN was set up in a meeting room next to the
library and
   English language newspapers and magazines would be available. He was
contacting
   local priests, ministers and rabbis and he was trying to locate
counseling
   psychologists who could speak English. No reporters would be allowed
into the
   courtyards or buildings of the Institut without our permission.
   At 10 AM all of the students gathered in the Theatre Louis Jouvet
next to the
   Institut, the only space large enough to accommodate all of us. We
had invited
   the other twenty or so American students at the Institut to join us.
The
   director of the Institut de Touraine, Monsieur Tournaire spoke first
to express
   his sympathy and his support. Carol and I translated his remarks and
then I
   spoke to the students in English to express my profound sense of
outrage and
   grief * feelings that I knew they must share. I read a brief
statement from the
   American Embassy in Paris that I had just downloaded and I gave them
the standard
   advice to Americans abroad in situations of international tension *
keep a low
   profile, avoid gathering with large groups of Americans in public
places, avoid
   wearing clothing that might identify them as Americans (university
sweatshirts,
   for instance) and try to speak French, especially in public. I
further advised
   them to spend time with their host family and not to plan any long
trips away
   from Tours in the immediate future.
   I also told them that the French were reacting very strongly to the
attack as
   well. Indeed all of the French TV stations had been covering the
events non-stop
   since the first minutes of the attack and all of the newspapers,
especially the
   national dailies were completely dominated by the American tragedy.
(This
   continues to be the case a week later, by the way.) Not only have the

French
   people had to deal with terrorism on their own soil in the past
decade, but they
   realize that this is an attack against the values that they share
with us. Some
   of the students spoke to share their feelings or they asked questions

about the
   damage in New York. It was an emotional meeting to say the least.
   We told the students that we thought that they should go back to
their regular
   routine of classes. Carol and I felt that it would be reassuring for
them to
   resume a schedule. The Institut de Touraine organized a gathering of
all the
   students and personnel  in the formal garden courtyard at noon that
day for a
   minute of silence in honor of the victims of the terrorist attacks.
Students of
   a dozen nationalities showed up to share this moment with us. On
Friday,
   September 14, the prefecture in Tours invited all of us to a ceremony

to honor
   the victims of the attacks. The Prefet asked two of our students to
help him
   place flowers next to the American and French flags. We observed
three minutes
   of silence and then listened to the American national anthem followed

by the
   Marseillaise. It was a moving ceremony and I noticed many students
weeping and
   hugging one another.
   The French have an anti-terrorist plan called 'vigipirate" that they
put in
   place more than a decade ago as a response to terrorist threats. The
day
   following the attack for instance, 5000 French soldiers were deployed

to
   strategic locations in French cities, of which 1100 in Paris
patrolling subways
   and train stations. This in addition to the national police and
gendarmes placed
   on high alert. They check identity cards and occasionally inspect
bags. Then
   began the further process of prevention * barriers were placed in
front of
   buildings in potentially sensitive areas to prevent cars from
parking, trash
   cans were removed from train stations, airports and subway stations
and
   trashcans on the streets were sealed up. I will not overwhelm you
with all the
   details of the plan. All businesses and, of course, schools have to
have their
   own "plan vigipirate,"  to protect access.
   We have all been deeply affected by this violent attack on America,
but we are
   trying to focus on our tasks here. The students have been wonderful
and seem to
   have developed a strong sense of community as a result of this
tragedy. We are
   all anxious to get to Paris and start the school year there. We will
be advising
   the students to be cautious in Paris, just as they should be in any
case in a
   large city. Paris is safer than most cities its size, but students
should always
   be vigilante and particularly careful of their possessions.
   I would like to conclude this letter with an anecdote about my own
family. My
   son Philip just started 9th grade and my daughter Grace 3rd grade in
a bilingual
   school two metro stops away from our apartment in the 16th
arrondissement. My
   wife Lisa and my two kids came down to Tours the weekend after the
attack * you
   can imagine how happy I was to hug them after such a tense week. As
we were
   walking back to my apartment Philip told me that the previous
evening, the
   Thursday after the attack, at dinner time, there was a knock at the
apartment
   door in Paris. He and his mom went tosee who it was and through the
peephole
   they saw an old man, maybe seventy, well-dressed, standing in the
hallway. When
   they opened the door he told them that he had come down stairs
because he felt
   compelled to tell them how sorry he was for what had happened in
America. Philip
   and Lisa were very moved by his expression of sympathy.
   The French people do not always agree with American foreign policy,
and they are
   not a bit shy about expressing their differences of opinion, but they

have a
   great affection for Americans and thus far have been very supportive.

I am
   hoping that the students this year, as they look at America from
abroad, as they
   argue with French people and others about ideas, will develop a more
complex
   understanding of global politics and culture. I am still optimistic
enough to
   believe that it is through a better understanding of others that we
come to
   understand ourselves.

   John Lambeth
   Resident Director



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--
Margaret Scouten, Ph.D.
Director, Junior Year in France
Sweet Briar College
Telephone:  (804) 381-6109
Fax:  (804) 381-6283
Email:  mailto:jyf@sbc.edu
website:  http://www.jyf.sbc.edu







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--
Margaret Scouten, Ph.D.
Director, Junior Year in France
Sweet Briar College
Telephone:  (804) 381-6109
Fax:  (804) 381-6283
Email:  mailto:jyf@sbc.edu
website:  http://www.jyf.sbc.edu







       Previous message: [Jyfadvise] Sweet Briar College JYF
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--
Margaret Scouten, Ph.D.
Director, Junior Year in France
Sweet Briar College
Telephone:  (804) 381-6109
Fax:  (804) 381-6283
Email:  mailto:jyf@sbc.edu
website:  http://www.jyf.sbc.edu