(Texas Scorecard) – A newly released final contract between Texas A&M University, Texas A&M University at Qatar, and the Qatar Foundation reveals new information outlining the state-led Qatar Foundation’s role in research.
The 2021 contract, obtained by Campus Reform, includes a new section called Research Areas that reads, “The emphasis of the Research Program shall be on issues of interest to the State of Qatar and the research priorities of Qatar and Qatar Foundation.”
Another section, titled Strategic Oversight of Research Program, says the Qatar Foundation will “provide high-level governance of the Research program, including the strategic direction, scope, and priorities of the Research program.”
This contract was agreed to years before A&M would consider closing the Qatar campus following questions by the Zachor Legal Institute about the Qatar Foundation’s ties to the Qatar government and consequently the government’s ties to terrorism.
The contract also said the Qatar Foundation would “approve Research Program plans and budgets.”
This information gives context to a 2020 report on foreign funding of American universities. The report included an instance where a professor and administrator of TAMUQ communicated via email about offering nuclear training to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The administrator referenced A&M’s contract with the Qatar Foundation, saying the “Qatar Foundation must be consulted before (TAMUQ) could enter into additional, external research agreements within the Arabian Gulf.”
During a congressional hearing last month, the Qatar Foundation was questioned over its relationship with Northwestern University’s branch campus in Doha.
“Do you think it’d be a good idea for Northwestern to partner with a government that harbors terrorists?” Republican U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens asked.
Qatar currently houses a Hamas political office in Doha, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was buried in Qatar after his assassination in Iran.
The Texas A&M-Qatar campus is now set to close in 2028 after a 7-1 vote in February by the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.
Texas A&M has not responded to a request for comment.
