Virginia Tech’s spring semester study abroad program in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland, comes to a close in two weeks, marking nearly 10 years since instruction began at the international center.
But after almost a decade of students being culturally immersed in the 200-year-old “Villa Maderni” one semester at a time, the program still finds itself fighting the language barrier and occasionally facing problems with alcohol abuse among participants.
“The difficulty and thing that divides (the town and the Tech program) and causes separateness the most is more due to the language barrier than the wildness of students,” said Daniela Doninelli, managing director stationed in Riva.
June Stubbs, an Italian professor at Tech, is responsible for teaching introductory Italian to all of the students who are going. And while a semester of Italian may not seem like much, Stubbs noted there is considerable significance.
“They do not speak English in this town of Riva San Vitale — they speak Italian,” Stubbs said. “We are culturally and linguistically isolated, and this gives students a chance to have a view of another culture ... and gain a new perspective on our life here.”
In the past, students were not required to speak any Italian before studying abroad. After the requirement was made, Stubbs noted the change in relations between the town and university.
“The townspeople are much more accepting, especially since the students have been taking Italian and they can communicate at a basic level instead of expecting them to speak English,” Stubbs said. “They can at least greet them and express their needs.”
Riva San Vitale is a small town located in the southernmost border of Switzerland, surrounded by mountains and just miles from the northern tip of Italy. The facilities in Riva are owned by the Virginia Tech Foundation and subsequently rented to the university.
Doninelli said the town supported the institutionalization of the center and fully supports Tech.
The College of Architecture operated a study abroad program in the region for years prior to the purchase of any facility, according to the Center for European Studies and Architecture at Virginia Tech. After the purchase of the villa and facility renovations, Tech established the CESA to provide 44 students with the opportunity to participate in semester-long residential immersion programs.
Andrew Becker, a former program coordinator and associate chair of the foreign language department, outlined a fairly recent change in the prerequisite standards for students wishing to study abroad in Riva.
Riva San Vitale was for a number of years exclusive to students enrolled in architecture, liberal arts and human sciences, and business, but it was opened up to students across the university this year.
Becker said the policy presently in place was introduced by Paul Knox, the program’s director, and requires faculty members to put in proposals for programs they wish to run in Riva. Given colleges aren’t guaranteed semesters abroad. Rather, everything hinges on proposal approval.
Becker said the program has been tremendously successful by university standards.
“This is the best beginner program we have that introduces people to the study of European politics and history and can do it in a way that doesn’t require expertise,” Becker said.
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.”