Preparing students about to study abroad

UW student murdered in Rome

ROME — Italian police say they have detained a homeless man in the death of a University of Wisconsin-Madison student whose body was found in the Tiber River. 

Police identified the suspect as Massimo Galioto, a 40-year-old from Rome. In a statement Tuesday, police said he was taken into custody because he was “seriously implicated” in the murder.

Monday, police pulled the body of Beau Solomon from the Tiber River. The 19-year-old was part of a study abroad program. 

One that sparks questions in what precautions local colleges are taking for its students.

Taylor Lewis, the study abroad coordinator at Viterbo University, says all students going overseas are educated on the dangers.

“For all of our programs, we do pre-departure orientations with our students – dangers of going abroad, safety abroad, all students have international health insurance, and then we stress the need to stay with groups and people that you know,” Lewis said.

Beyond that, Lewis noted that students are never sent into precarious situations.

“We never send students to countries that have trouble warnings, based on guidelines from the state department,” Lewis said. “But, then we also just assess each of our programs for the safety and still make sure our students are still in safe areas.”

Solomon’s story might deter some from studying abroad in the future but Lewis believes those interested shouldn’t be overly concerned. 

“We also don’t want to deter students away from going abroad,” she said. “The risks, definitely, are not outweighed by the rewards. There are risks with anything.” 

Lewis also said they stress students stay in groups and avoid over consuming alcohol.