Group Includes Cuban-American Students Looking to Establish Ties

A group of 27 DePaul University students, faculty and a dean will travel to the island of Cuba Dec. 5 for an intensive three-week Study Abroad session that will address “Cuban Realities in a Changing World.” Although it is the second organized trip for students in the last two years, Felix Masud-Piloto, director of the university’s Center for Latino Research and a faculty member, said the possibility looms that it might be the last because the university’s travel license is about to expire.

“We’re excited about this year’s trip, but this is the time of the year that we plan the trip for next year,” explained Masud-Piloto, a Cuban native who came to the United States with his family 42 years ago. “We’ve put in our application already for the December 2004 trip. The university is in good standing; I am hopeful that our license will be renewed.” The license that Masud-Piloto refers to was issued by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2002 approving education travel to Cuba for DePaul for two years. DePaul’s current license expires in November of 2004. Since issuing the license to DePaul, the Treasury department has announced that it does not plan to renew such licenses.

In addition to Masud-Piloto, the students – primarily undergraduates – will be accompanied by Luis Larrea, an adjunct professor of marketing; Maria Masud, wife of Masud-Piloto and a Spanish instructor; and Michael L. Mezey, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“Study Abroad programs are designed to let students see other countries and other cultures for themselves,” said Mezey. “Despite the fact that Cuba is so geographically close to the United States, our students know so little about this nation, and what they think they know has been distorted by propaganda on all sides. This absence of information is particularly troubling for students of Cuban descent, and while all of our students who go on this trip benefit enormously, for these students, it is truly the trip of a lifetime.”

For Alexis Fojo, 21, a senior majoring in communication, the opportunity to study in Cuba will enhance her career goals. She plans to pursue a public relations job that involves “opening the eyes of Americans to other cultures,” particularly that of Latinos. Fojo is also seeking a personal connection in Cuba. Her father is a Cuban expatriate who came to the United States as a child in the 1960s. The family has cousins still living on the island, and Fojo, the first family member from the U.S. to visit since her father’s family left some 40 years ago, is hoping to meet them. “I can’t believe that I have a chance to go back to see my heritage and visit the birthplace of my father,” she said. “When I get back, I can talk to him about all the places I’ve seen in Cuba.”

Juliet Muñoz, 20, a junior who is also a communication major, has dreamed of this opportunity for a long time. Like Fojo, Muñoz has a Cuban father who migrated to the United States in 1967. She said that she will be looking to claim her identity that she feels has been lost. “My father does not talk about what happened,” she explained. “When he and his brother came here they were so anxious to fit in that they even lost every trace of their accents. There is not a lot of pride in the land that they left. I am so hungry to understand that culture – to complete my story that I feel is missing.”

Muñoz is not sure if she has relatives remaining in Cuba. However, her Cuban grandmother has given her the address of the house she once lived in, and Muñoz plans to look up her old residence in Havana.

Fojo, Muñoz and the other students participating in the program will face an intensive course schedule. However, trip planners have allotted plenty of free time to explore the island. The four-credit course is structured for students from a range of disciplines that include business, communication, education, history, international studies, modern languages and political science. It focuses on historical developments in the Communist country, as well as its economy and industries. The business center at the hotel where the group is staying will serve as classroom meeting space. Students are required to keep a journal with reflections on all of their group activities and to write a term paper on how the Cuban Revolution has shaped today’s Cuban society. Field studies include visits to: the University of Havana for lectures on Cuban history and economics; Consultants on Foreign Business Operations in Cuba; the National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists for a roundtable discussion on Cuban literature and Cuba-U.S. relations; and the High Institute of Art, the leading arts school in the country.

Neither Masud-Piloto nor the students who are traveling to Cuba this year are allowing the uncertainty of future study abroad possibilities to dampen their outlook for much excitement, education and experience lies before them. “Besides, I’m an optimist,” said Masud-Piloto. “Who knows, we may not even need a license to take a group of students to Cuba next year.”