The College Fix

Sloane Speakman is a junior at Vanderbilt University, and until Tuesday, was the school’s inaugural student abroad in Egypt. She was evacuated to Dubai on Tuesday and will be there until Sunday, when she will fly to Israel and complete the rest of her semester at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

SFPA: Are American students in the Middle East, particularly Egypt, safe right now?

Sloane Speakman: If you had asked me this a few days ago, I would have said yes. We had a very organized, strong neighborhood watch program where I was staying in the Zamalek neighborhood of Cairo so I was perfectly safe.

The bigger issue for us was that we were quickly running out of food. The American University residence where I was staying fed us twice a day, but the supply was slowly diminishing. All of the surrounding shops, of course, were closed, so we had no other option. All of the ATMs were out of cash as well, so many of us had no money and we were unable to buy any more credit for our phones once service had been restored. (We were also out of toilet paper…a less reported on problem, but nonetheless a serious one).

However, the last couple of days have taken a much more violent turn. I was evacuated on Tuesday, and by Wednesday, fights had broken out between the pro- and anti-government supporters. By now, of course, it has become even bloodier. Most of us students were determined to stick it out, but the longer the situation dragged on, the more we realized that things were becoming increasingly hostile. Some of my friends who went to the protests had tear gas shot at them, and one girl came back to the lobby of our residence with 13 marks on her body from where she had been shot with rubber bullets. It was unbelievable.

SFPA: Are most students trying to return to the US?

Speakman: AUC is 85 percent Egyptian, so the majority of the students I was living with had no option. Of the 150 or so international students, some were from the US studying abroad, others were freshman enrolling from all over the world. Those who were full-time AUC students and not Egyptian often left to neighboring countries to stay with friends or returned to their families to wait it out. Right now, AUC has postponed classes to Feb. 13, but there’s no telling if they’ll be able to uphold that.

Of the American students, most were initially hesitant to leave. We felt safe in the residence and were enjoying the experience. It wasn’t until the State Department announced its encouragement for all Americans to leave the country did students begin getting nervous and leaving. There were a small handful, myself included, who still wanted to stay.

However, we were threatened by our schools that they would withdraw support from us, and by the Embassy, saying that if we ignore the warnings, we revoke our rights as citizens while we remained in the country. After this, most students were forced to leave. I was one of the later ones to leave, as most left Sunday or first thing Monday morning.

SFPA: If students aren’t able to get out of the country right now, what are they doing?

Speakman: At this point, if they are still in the country, they are likely students who were living off campus.

All AUC students, including ones off-campus, have been moved to the Zamalek residence and are on lock down. They can’t leave as we had to drive through Tahrir Square to get to the airport. I’m not sure what they are doing about food.

They are very fortunate to be with AUC, however, has the university has a direct line of communication with the Egyptian government and has the financial resources to continue caring for those in the residence. Some of us had planned on staying to participate in the Million Man March, but almost everyone who had talked about going was on the bus with me headed to the airport. I am not sure how many students are left behind at this point, but I know the State Dept said it would continue flights until the end of the week. I’m not sure if they’ve followed through with that or not.

SFPA: What’s the general situation like in Cairo right now, and at the American University?

Speakman: The nights leading up to my evacuation were becoming increasingly tense. We could hear gunfire almost every night from our rooms. There was a terrace on the roof of the residence, and we could see the burning buildings from there. It felt like the entire city was on fire. Even at that point, however, the protesters were relatively peaceful.

It was not until Wednesday that the pro-government protesters have initiated violence. However, this particular group of protesters, from what I hear from friends still in Egypt, are being paid by the government. Something like 100LE to march, 20LE to hold a sign supporting Mubarak. It’s unbelievable. There are some in Egypt who legitimately support him, mostly those employed by the regime or those who have a real fear of the unknown, as Mubarak has seemingly provided stability for Egypt for almost the entire lives of most the protesters (the average age in Egypt is 24).

The other voices of support I heard were from Christian families, including the one I stayed with my first week in Egypt. They are afraid that Mubarak’s replacement will take a harsher stance against their freedoms to practice and potentially begin persecuting them.

From speaking with non-Christian Egyptians, this fear is likely largely unfounded, but it does show that there is some (though very little) support for the regime. American University has done an excellent job of caring for its students, but there was only so much it could do with the communication systems down. The president came and spoke with us on my last day there and said they may have to have classes on Tuesdays and Saturdays and shorten Spring Break. They were going to try to not cancel the semester as much as possible for the sake of those who were graduating.

SFPA: Is there anything else relevant or important in your estimation about the protests or general situation in Egypt right now?

Speakman: I honestly haven’t really had time to process everything just yet. It’s really just a waiting game now, to see what Mubarak will do next. The American opinion is becoming increasingly irrelevant to those on the streets, though this opinion (and questionable support or lack of it) will have a large impact during the actual transition.

As the situation drags on, the protesters are becoming increasingly anti-Western, arresting journalists even. Some of my friends got into a car after being chased away from the protests and they even began throwing rocks and the car and chasing them as it drove away. Some believed it had to do with the way the West was reporting things (which were quite dramatic) and others thought it was because of the lack of support from Western powers, such as the US, for the protesters. Either way, though it was originally safe for us to watch the protests from a distance, it became increasingly hostile as time went on.

The other force to watch is the military. They have been surprisingly passive throughout the protests. They are highly respected, but have little authority as demonstrators climb on top of the tanks and just throw rocks over them as if they are not there. As the violence increases, the military’s decisions regarding their actions will determine quite a bit regarding the opposition’s next move.

Like The College Fix on Facebook / Follow us on Twitter