Texas A&M gave state-led Qatar Foundation broad control over research on Middle East campus, contract shows: Exclusive
Texas A&M University gave its broad control over research operations at its Middle East campus to the state-led Qatar Foundation, Campus Reform has found.
EXCLUSIVE: Texas A&M University gave its broad control over research operations at its Middle East campus to the state-led Qatar Foundation, Campus Reform has found.
The Texas A&M University Board of Regents voted in February to terminate the contract between the university system and the Qatar Foundation, which will end in 2028. The decision to shut down its Qatar Campus came after The Free Press obtained a previous contract between the Middle-East nation and Texas A&M University, which details that all intellectual property from research developed at the Qatar campus is property of the Qatar Foundation.
In recent months, Campus Reform obtained a copy of the most up-to-date version of the contract signed in 2021, which contained a new section giving broad control over the Texas A&M University at Qatar research program to the Qatar Foundation.
Under the contract, the Qatar Foundation provides “high-level governance of the Research Program,” which includes “strategic direction, scope and priorities.”
Texas A&M and Qatar Fou... by Campus Reform
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The contract also stipulated that the research program would be “aligned” with the Qatar National Research Fund and other universities and research centers in Qatar.
The Qatar Foundation is also responsible for approving “Research Program plans and budgets” and will “monitor progress and performance in reaching mutually agreed Research Program benchmarks.”
Established in 2003, the university’s Qatar campus offers degrees in chemical engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and petroleum engineering, according to its website.
Marc Greendorfer, President of the Zachor Legal Institute, told Campus Reform that the contract “does in fact give Qatar Foundation broad right to manage the Doha campus of Texas A&M.” The Zachor Institute describes itself as an organization “taking the lead in the legal battle against antisemitism and the delegitimization of Israel.”
Greendorfer added that “it’s a fair conclusion to say that nothing happens at the campus without the oversight and approval of Qatar Foundation.”
Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Campus Reform that the relationship between Texas A&M and the Qatar Foundation is “cause for significant concern” given that the Texas institution is heavily connected to American nuclear research. In comments to the Free Press, a spokeswoman for the university previously denied that research at the Qatar campus was connected to nuclear research.
Schanzer said that Texas A&M needs to open up about what it has given to the Qatar Foundation when it comes to research.
”This is, I think, a moment for Texas A&M to disclose what it has effectively handed over to an illiberal regime that is a sponsor of Hamas that has interests intertwined with the Taliban, al Qaeda, ISIS, and other threats to national security. This is the moment I think, where Texas A&M needs to come clean,” Schanzer said.
Schanzer added that the Qatar Foundation is “not an independent organization” and “is a tool of the Qatari Government to wield influence.”
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”[The] Qatar Foundation has been a tool of the regime to engage in a range of activity designed to grant the Qataris leverage here in the United States, as well as other Western countries abroad,” he said.
Qatar openly houses a Hamas office within its country, with the terror organization’s leaders living lavish lifestyles within the capital city of Doha, according to the New York Post.
After the October 7 attack, Western officials have claimed that Qatar has had issues answering questions about the terrorist attack in Israel, Politico reported.
Notably, Politico reported that Qatar’s security agency follows the precise moves of Hamas leaders who live in the country.
A Texas A&M University spokesperson referred Campus Reform to a previous press release when reached for comment, but didn’t address any questions.
The press release from February states that “The decision does not immediately change operations or services on the campus. Under terms of the contract with the Qatar Foundation, the termination will take four years.”
“The Board has decided that the core mission of Texas A&M should be advanced primarily within Texas and the United States,” Board Chairman Bill Mahomes said. “By the middle of the 21st century, the university will not necessarily need a campus infrastructure 8,000 miles away to support education and research collaborations.”
Campus Reform reached out to the Qatar Foundation and Texas A&M University at Qatar for comment.
