Northwestern's Deal With the Devil -- Er, Qatar

Northwestern University's contract with Hamas-allied Qatar, where the school operates a satellite campus, includes a clause that effectively forbids students and faculty from criticizing the Qatari regime, a House Committee on Education and Workforce interview with soon-to-be-former Northwestern University president Michael Schill revealed.

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The interview, which includes an extensive discussion of Northwestern's contract with the regime-controlled Qatar Foundation, reveals the speech limitations to which universities submit when they operate in the Gulf state.

In the August 5 interview, committee staffers introduced "a portion from Northwestern's agreement with the Qatar Foundation," the nonprofit organization chaired by the emir of Qatar's mother. The foundation bankrolls the presence of Northwestern and other American universities in the Gulf state. The agreement includes a clause stipulating that "NU, NU-Q, and their respective employees, students, faculty, families, contractors and agents, shall be subject to the applicable laws and regulations of the State of Qatar, and shall respect the cultural, religious and social customs of the State of Qatar."

Ed Morrissey

Definitely an eye-opening condition for access, but I'm not sure it's that unusual. Money always comes with strings, especially when dealing with autocratic or totalitarian regimes. It also apparently only strictly applied to their Qatar campus, although it becomes clear that Qatar's money influenced Schill's approach to anti-Semitism on their Chicago campus as well. 

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