Levin defends Yale's actions in Smalls case

BY MATTHEW FERRARO

With her daughter Natasha Smalls, CC '02, home after disappearing five weeks ago in South Africa, Glory Smalls has publicly criticized Yale for not doing enough to find her 20-year-old daughter, who was studying at the University of Natal in Durban, South Africa. Glory Smalls has also blamed racism for what she sees as the U.S. State Department's lacksadaisical approach to the case.

COURTESY WWW.NU.AC.ZA Natasha Smalls, CC '02, was studying at the University of Natal in Durban, South Africa before her disappearance.

Natasha Smalls' whereabouts were unknown from Wed., Aug. 1 until she telephoned home on Thurs., Aug. 23. With the help of friends in Johannesburg and Durban, she boarded a plane and returned to New York on Mon., Aug. 27. A friend of Natasha Smalls who helped her prepare for the flight from Durban reported that she was disturbed and incoherent.

At an early-morning press conference at John F. Kennedy International Airport on the day of her return, Glory Smalls criticized Yale's lack of supervision of study-abroad programs. "When Yale sends students to a different country, they should be more involved in it," she said. "And they were not—at all. Yale didn't know anything about what Natasha was doing," Glory Smalls said. Her daughter was not present at the press conference.

The University does not directly supervise programs like the one in which Natasha Smalls participated. Students must petition Yale to grant them credit for their overseas work and then pay their tuition directly to the hosting University. Robert Smalls, Natasha's father, added, "The laws and regulations [governing study abroad programs] need to be looked into."

Yale President Richard Levin, GRD '74, defended Yale's actions by saying that the University worked hard to try to locate her. He told the Herald, "When students go abroad, they're going largely alone. Yale doesn't make an attempt to monitor their actions. That said, if a Yale student is in distress, we will do everything we can to help them."

In late July, before her disappearance, Natasha Smalls called home and said she was being held in a Zimbabwean psychiatric hospital and injected with chemicals against her will. While local South African authorities have challenged the veracity of her claims, Candace Sandy, Communications Director for U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks (D-NY), who assisted the Smalls family, said Natasha's story is true. "We actually have proof that she was in a hospital in Zimbabwe," Sandy said. She refused to divulge the source of that evidence.

Meeks' office is reluctant to defend either Yale's actions or condone Glory Smalls' statements. At the press conference, however, Meeks said, "We need to look and see whether Yale did or did not participate as they should. I believe the University does have some responsibility." Several days later, Sandy reiterated that "our main concern was to get Natasha home."

Levin said, "I know as soon as the University learned that Natasha Smalls was missing, we sprung into action, and there was quite a concerted effort on our part to find her."

Because of phone calls Yale made to contacts, the State Department became involved. Sandra Sanneh, a senior lecturer in the African Studies department, extended her visit to South Africa to accompany Natasha Smalls home, Levin added.

Meeks' office also notified the State Department, agencies within South Africa, the American Ambassador to South Africa, and Natasha Smalls' friends in an attempt to find out where she was. It is unclear whether any of these efforts were successful in tracking her down or uncovering what happened to her while she was missing. Her phone call home was a welcomed, if unexpected, break in the case.

"We're still trying to piece together what happened to her," Sandy said. "But Natasha holds the key." According to Meeks' office, Smalls has required psychiatric and physical care since her return and may or may not still be in the hospital. She has not publicly explained what happened to her to date.

Natasha Smalls' travails began earlier this year when she was assaulted and abducted in March. She refused to return home to the U.S. even after her mother flew to South Africa to try to bring her home. She is the first member of her family to attend college and was determined, Sandy said, to finish her study abroad program so that she could graduate on time. According to published reports, she will not return to Yale this fall for classes. Her family was unable to be reached for further comment.

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