PARIS – Nearly 30 Georgetown students studying abroad in France have been caught in the crossfire as French students organize mass strikes in protest of pending legislation that would make it more difficult for younger workers to hold jobs.

Two study abroad programs in which the university participates have repeatedly cancelled classes over the past two weeks – the Sweet Briar program and Center for University Programs. Classes at Sciences Po Paris, Georgetown’s only other program in the French capital, were canceled yesterday afternoon as demonstrations spilled into the city streets.

Students at Paris III, Nouvelle Sorbonne, a public university, began striking three weeks ago in protest of government attempts to make it harder for younger workers to maintain contracts with employers. The protests have since spread across the nation, with 64 of the 84 universities in France on strike as of yesterday, according to the National Union of French Students, the university student syndicate.

The French Ministry of Education had slightly different figures, listing 21 campuses as “totally blocked” while 37 others were “agitated to various degrees.”

High school students have also entered the fray. Of 110 Parisian high schools, 32 were “disturbed” and five “completely closed” yesterday, according to the National Union of High School Students.

Georgetown students are explicitly prohibited by the Office of International Programs from participating in any political activities abroad.

“In any situation where emotions run high . there is always potential for things to turn violent,” said Jason Sanderson, OIP coordinator for study abroad programs in France.

Jamie Gahlon (SFS ’07), who is taking three courses at Paris III through CUPA, has had classes canceled over the past three weeks. She said that student syndicates vote each day on whether to continue the strike, forcing her to prepare for classes and travel to the university daily in case classes will open. Gahlon has repeatedly encountered the entrances to the university blocked by stacked chairs and arm-locked students supplied with “bongo drums and coffee,” she said.

Gahlon said that although she admires the students’ determination and organization, the situation appears deadlocked.

“The first week was kind of cool; the second week was fun,” she said. “But now I just want to go back to class.”

Jackie Kelley (COL ’07), who is taking four courses at Paris III through CUPA, said that as a foreigner it has been particularly difficult to understand the strikers’ demands.

“Essentially they are protesting against something that for us, as Americans, is completely natural,” she said.

Georgetown students studying in Strasbourg and Lyon, two other French cities where the university sends students, said that they regularly encounter French students distributing flyers encouraging strikes in their respective cities.

Depending on the length of the strikes, make-up classes may be held for students to finish their semester and take exams before their programs are set to conclude May 31. If strikes continue, both CUPA and Sweet Briar may offer discipline-based tutorials in the place of regular courses.

Sanderson said that Georgetown will “work with Sweet Briar and CUPA to assure that students’ academic progress is not placed in jeopardy because of a situation that is beyond their control.”