MANY QATARIS DON,T SUPPORT EDUCATION CITY; "SYMBOL

C O N F I D E N T I A L DOHA 000594

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/18/2018
TAGS: PGOV SOCI SCUL KPAO QA
SUBJECT: MANY QATARIS DON,T SUPPORT EDUCATION CITY; "SYMBOL
OF ELITES" - GEORGETOWN DEAN

Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOSEPH E. LEBARON, FOR REASON 1.4 (D).

(C) KEY POINTS:

-- The Dean of Georgetown University in Qatar contends that
most Qataris do not support Education City in Doha and see it
rather as a symbol of elites.

-- Regional rivalries prevent neighboring countries from
sending large numbers of students to Education City.

-- The influence of Wahhabism on education in Qatar is
minimal and kept in check by the ruling family; no one has
infringed on Education City's academic freedom.

-- COMMENT: While we know of no poll to confirm or refute
the Dean's contention about Education City's lack of popular
support, contacts have told us that it seems to them that
Education City is disconnected from the rest of Qatari
society. For Education City to be sustainable, the Qatari
leadership -- and the six American universities in Doha --
will need to demonstrate to the Qatari people and citizens of
the broader region that Education City presents a viable
alternative to extremism.


1. (C) On August 11, Ambassador paid an introductory call on
James Reardon-Anderson, Dean of Georgetown University in
Qatar (GU-Q),one of the six American universities at
Education City. Characterizing Qatar as a "family-owned
business," the Dean described Education City as a singular
vision of the Amir and his wife Sheikha Mozah that enjoys
little popular support. Many Qataris, he asserted, view it
as a "give-away" to foreigners.


2. (SBU) Feeding this view is the fact that Georgetown, like
other universities at Education City, has retained its
competitive admission requirements as a condition for
awarding a degree identical to the one it confers on students
in the United States. As a result, it is extremely difficult
to recruit enough Qataris to make them the majority at GU-Q.
Reardon-Anderson cited the current freshman class of 40
students, of which only 12 are Qataris.


3. (SBU) Similarly, Georgetown has not been successful in
recruiting large numbers of non-Qatari Arabs to GU-Q,
according to the Dean. Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
countries, out of a sense of pride and competitiveness,
generally do not offer scholarships to their citizens to
study at Education City, even though they do receive
scholarship funding to study at the schools' main campuses in
the United States.


4. (C) Asked about the role of Wahhabism on Qatari society
and regional rivalries, Georgetown academic Mehran Kamrava
said that the impact of Wahhabi doctrine in Qatar was
minimal. Most clerics are foreign, he said, and therefore
self-censor in order to avoid being deported. Additionally,
Qatar does not have a well-known center for religious
learning such as al-Azhar in Egypt or Qom in Iran. Qatar
University's College of Sharia trains mostly women who become
teachers, not religious leaders. Religious education is part
of the school curriculum, Kamrava said, over which the ruling
family keeps a watchful eye.


5. (C) Reardon-Anderson added that Qatari students that he
has observed at GU-Q are "orthodox in their views, but
lacking some basic knowledge about Islam." All students are
required to take the "Question of God" course at GU-Q, just
as at Georgetown's Washington campus. Despite these factors,
neither students nor the Qatari Government, the Dean stated,
has impinged on Education City's academic freedom, for
reasons religious or political.
LeBaron