A student studying at the Miami University Dolibois European Campus (MUDEC) was stabbed and robbed while traveling through Paris last Wednesday evening, in what a representative from the International Education office maintains was a rare occurrence.
Andy Chen, a senior chemistry student at Miami, was riding a subway train through Paris when five young men allegedly attacked him and Janice Yan, his friend who resides in Paris.
Chen is currently recovering.
"I got on to this random subway car," Chen said. "I wasn't even thinking about it. Then the subway doors close and all five guys (in the car) all the sudden get up. I saw one of them was holding a knife, probably two or three inches long."
Chen said he was immediately aware they were attempting a robbery.
"I did my best to get away from them, but since I was cornered there wasn't much I could do," Chen said.
Chen explained one of the five assailants boarded the train later than the other four, and he was holding the knife.
"I don't remember much, but I think one of them punched me twice in the head and knocked off my glasses, and the guy with the knife stabbed me three times in the process," Chen said.
After Chen came to his senses, he said realized his camera was missing and his wallet was not where he normally kept it.
"Right after the doors opened again, the guy who stabbed me threw back my wallet after he took the cash out, and they all ran off," Chen said.
Yan was not injured, though she was robbed of her camera and mobile phone.
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Chen said he was angry rather than in pain immediately after the robbery.
"By then I was just fuming," he said. "When you get stabbed, it doesn't hurt right away, contrary to popular belief."
Once he and his friend reached the last subway stop, Chen said three Parisians assisted him and notified the police of the incident.
Chen arrived at the hospital where he was treated for three stab wounds to the right shoulder.
Chen and Yan were able later to identify three of the five attackers in a police lineup. Some of their possessions havebeen returned.
This robbery is one of many suffered by MUDEC students this semester. Chen had been pickpocketed once before in Brussels, Belgium, and several other students have had passports, cash, credit cards, cameras and other valuables stolen while traveling.
Yet according to Ekkehard Stiller, dean of MUDEC, this stabbing is the first of its kind for MUDEC.
"This is the first time that I'm aware something like this has happened," Stiller said. "There was a situation in Barcelona where a couple of students were involved in a fight, but nothing of this nature."
Marcia Waller, a study abroad adviser for the Office of International Education at Miami's Oxford campus, said that she agrees that incidents such as this are uncommon, that most of the reports she hears are minor pickpocketing incidents.
"This kind of thing could have happened in New York, Los Angeles or Oxford, Ohio," Waller said.
Because Chen's situation was unique, Waller also said that there is no protocol as to how the crime should be publicized, that it is up to the student-victim to decide.
"We would use it as a teachable moment for the next students," Waller said.
Although the situation was unique to Stiller as well, plans were promptly made for Chen's recovery time in Paris.
Upon hearing about the incident in Paris, Stiller made contact with Miami alumni currently living Paris. He said he received e-mail responses almost immediately from the alumni.
One alumnus, Celia Rutkoski, agreed to visit Chen and give him lodging while he recuperated in Paris.
"It was absolutely wonderful to see how quickly they responded," Stiller said. "It was re-confirmation of the special character and personality that Miami students and former Miami students have."
Stiller said students are often reminded to be careful and aware of their surroundings while in Luxembourg or while traveling.
"We constantly remind the students that they need to be careful wherever they go and whatever they do," Stiller said. "We tell them even here in Differdange (home of MUDEC in Luxembourg) you need to be careful and mindful."
Chen, however, said it could be talked about even more.
"It might be an anomaly this year, but this (threat) is something that was really far from our minds," Chen said. "Other MUDEC students said they had things stolen on other trips to Europe in the past. After it happened to me, all these stories surfaced."
Despite the stabbing, Chen says he is happy he traveled overseas.
"I don't regret coming here," he said.
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