In 2010, rising levels of violence in the west-central state of Michoacán led the State Department to recommend the deferral of non-essential travel to the region. As a result, the center reassigned students to other program sites in Mexico.

More recently, the upheaval across much of the Arab world has forced some students to reevaluate their plans.

Catherine H. Winnie, director of the Office of International Programs, wrote in an email that some students on post-graduate fellowships have had to change their plans.

“In those rare cases, the College does its utmost to ensure the student’s safety and assist him or her with the cancelation or departure plans,” she wrote.

“I think we’ve got it close to right,” Washburn says.

—Staff writer Shatha I. Hussein can be reached at shatha_hussein@college.harvard.edu.