As the United States faces the uncertainty of a possible war with Iraq, the fate of Milligan’s annual Humanities tour is also uncertain.
On the radio show “Beyond the Bubble” on March 18, Ted Thomas, associate professor of humanities, history and German and Milligan's tour director, said that he would be talking to EF Educational Tours, the company that arranges the tour, on March 20 and he would have some answers the next day.
“That EF will be able to give me a definite date for our departure is certain,” Thomas said. “I cannot guarantee that EF will have made a decision about canceling the tour.”
If students cancel their tour reservation before March 30, each will face a $400 cancellation fee.
After March 30, Thomas said that the cancellation fee would be 50 per cent of the amount invested in the tour thus far, which is around $1,200.
Thomas said EF has discussed what circumstance might lead to a cancellation of the tour.
“The written language says that Congress must declare war in order for us to get a full refund,” Thomas said. “In phone conversations, our EF representative has assured me that EF will cancel the tour if hostilities break out.”
If the tour is cancelled, students should be refunded all of their money except for the $95 registration fee and any money they have already spent on insurance, Thomas said.
Students may also leave their money in their EF account as a credit as late as September 2004, enabling them to use that money on next year's humanities tour or another EF tour not associated with Milligan. However, Thomas pointed out that students would not receive Milligan academic credit for other tours.
One concern of tour students is finding time to make up the humanities tour credits if the tour is cancelled.
“Should it be cancelled, we will consider some summer class,” Academic Dean Mark Matson said. “But we will have to be sure we can find a professor willing to teach it.”
Thomas said that he doesn’t know what will happen to the tour if war does break out with Iraq but ends by May.
Sophomore Lisa Saca, who is signed up for the tour, said, “I’m pretty much convinced we’re not going.”
Saca said that she would be unable to go in the summer of 2004, and hopes that Milligan will be able to offer an extra humanities course during the summer.
If war breaks out and ends before May, Saca expressed concern about still taking the tour.
“I’m not sure I’d want to go a month after [the war ended],” Saca said.
Thomas said, “I’m still praying for peace, and I don’t want to betray my own convictions about the power of prayer by making plans as if my prayers weren’t going to be answered.”