Students visiting Cuba after travel ban lifted

Students at a small university near Chicago are testing President Barack Obama’s ease on travel restrictions to Cuba with a three-week trip to the island.

Twenty students from Dominican University in River Forest began their trip on Friday. They’re capping a semester course on the country’s history and culture.

School officials say they’re one of the first U.S. universities to send students on a short-term program to the country since Obama lifted travel restrictions in January. The State Department could not confirm this.

Trip organizers say there was a quick turnaround because the school had planned for the trip years before the travel ban lifted.

Students will blog while on the trip though Internet access may force them to fax posts to Illinois. They will return June 3.