Twelve Notre Dame students were evacuated from Cairo to Istanbul Monday night, according to a University press release.
The students, who were participating in a Notre Dame study abroad program at the American University in Cairo (AUC), were among many American citizens evacuated on charter flights arranged by the U.S. State Department due to ongoing protests in Egypt.
Notre Dame is working with State Department officials to transport the students from Istanbul to their hometowns, Notre Dame or London, the press release stated. Each student will decide whether to enroll in courses at Notre Dame's campus in South Bend or at the University's London Program for the remainder of the semester, based on individual preference and available courses and housing.
"It has been an incredible four—day period," J. Nicholas Entrikin, Notre Dame's vice president for internationalization, said in the press release. "Staff members of the Office of International Studies (OIS) have worked around the clock to move our students from Cairo to a safe location outside of Egypt. Communications were severely disrupted, but students, parents and OIS staff members were able to create an effective communications network that was invaluable in facilitating the evacuation."
The University announced its decision to evacuate the students on Sunday.
ile the students were without Internet and mobile phone connections in Cairo, University spokesman Dennis Brown said Notre Dame communicated with an AUC liaison through a landline and used "every connection we have to try to expedite the process" of evacuating the students from Egypt.
"We are grateful for the assistance from the American University in Cairo (AUC) for the secure environment that they provided our students amidst the protests and violence in Cairo, and U.S. State Department for their help in transporting the students to Turkey," Entrikin said. "We understand that the students are in excellent health and spirits, and we are delighted with the news of their safe arrival in Istanbul."
