Collegiate Times

Tech's architecure study abroad program is stationed in Switzerland.

Becker last taught in Riva in 2001 and noted that while the program’s headquarters are located in the center of the city, it is also high profile, contributing to potential scrutiny of students.

“You have people coming back from bars being noisy, and people don’t like that,” Becker said. “But it’s nothing near as big as any college town thing like in Blacksburg.”

Becker specified one incident, entirely unrelated to alcohol that may have strained the town’s relationship with the university.

“Some students got stuck on a mountain,” Becker said. “It didn’t have to do with misbehavior — it had to do with dumbness. Several students set off to climb one of the adjacent mountains late in the day. They got caught in a snowfield and were rescued by a helicopter. The town wasn’t excited about it, but it wasn’t really that big of a deal for them. It was more of a big deal for the parents having to pay.”

Doninelli, essentially the university’s liaison in Switzerland, said very bluntly that the students of Riva San Vitale are not “rowdy.”

“We have a lot of shifts of students, and if (Riva was) unhappy with us, they would have already called the police and kicked us out of the town,” Doninelli said. “The moment (the students) exit the campus, which is just a house and little property, they are with the townspeople. I would not say they are more bad than anyone else.”

Doninelli added that Riva has never made a request or threat to evict the university from the city.

While relations between Riva and Tech appear pleasant now, Stubbs and Becker agreed that the process to such was not immediate.

“The people of Riva are very welcoming to the students now,” Stubbs said. “It wasn’t the case in the beginning because suddenly all of these American students descended upon this little town of 2,000.”

Stubbs added that Tech puts forth an effort to keep communication open with the town and townspeople, something that is aided considerably by students understanding more Italian.

“They plan events together, things like concerts, and festivals,” Stubbs said. “There’s not a lot of them going on, but it’s ongoing.”

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A version of this article appeared in the Apr 23 issue of the Collegiate Times.