Dear Friend

Colleges scrambled to react after military strikes against Iran by the United States and Israel raised the prospect of a lengthy conflict in the Middle East. Here’s a sample of how American campuses in the region have responded, and how tensions are rising on home shores:

• Closed: The American University of Beirut closed yesterday, citing a “deterioration of events in Lebanon,” and said it will remain shuttered today because of a directive from the country’s education ministry.
• Canceled: Southern Methodist University said over the weekend that it’s canceling a program in Dubai and trying to return students and employees to the United States.
• Suspended: Georgetown University suspended a graduate program that had been scheduled to begin Sunday in Dubai. Georgetown University in Qatar canceled a Monday lecture by Kolinda Grabar Kitarović, the former president of Croatia.
• Sheltered: Students at New York University’s Abu Dhabi campus sheltered over the weekend when Iranian missiles landed about five miles away, according to NYU’s student newspaper.
• Remote: The United Arab Emirates and Qatar moved schools and universities to distance learning. Among institutions covered are NYU Abu Dhabi, the Rochester Institute of Technology Dubai, and those in Qatar’s Education City: programs operated by Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, Texas A&M, and Virginia Commonwealth Universities, and Weill Cornell Medicine. Students at NYU’s Tel Aviv study-away site are also attending remote classes.
• Stuck: Students and faculty from Carson-Newman University, in Tennessee, were unable to leave Jerusalem, as much of the air travel in the Middle East was shut down, WVLT reported. They’d been on an archaeological dig.