Ex-Texas A&M president ‘disappointed’ over decision to close Doha campus
Bowen hopes Texas A&M finds a way to protect the interests of the current students, faculty and staff of the Qatar campus.
NT Bureau
Doha: A former Texas A&M University president, Ray Bowen, has expressed his disappointment and surprise over the university’s decision to terminate its contract with Qatar Foundation (QF), leading to the closure of its Doha campus, by the year 2028.
Bowen said the source of his surprise was that the 20-plus year reputation of the partnership was successful in every aspect.
Bowen, who had played a key role in the initial partnership with Qatar Foundation, expressed his anguish in an op-ed for The Dallas Morning News.
“I was surprised and disappointed when I learned of the decision by the regents of the Texas A&M University System to cancel the university’s contract with the Qatar Foundation effective 2028, and close the campus in Doha commonly referred to as TAMUQ. I wish they had provided additional information in support of their decision,” he wrote.
In February, Texas A&M announced it would close its Doha campus by 2028 due to ‘circumstances created by the Middle East conflict’.
Bowen said American companies operating in Qatar had benefited from the engineers produced by Texas A&M Qatar.
“In addition to military relationships, US companies like Chevron Phillips Chemical, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips are successfully holding interests in Qatar. These companies, and others, I am told, have benefitted from the availability and quality of the Aggie engineers produced by Texas A&M Qatar,” he said.
“The partnership of Texas A&M University with the Qatar Foundation has been viewed as successful. Any student of higher education will acknowledge that international partnerships are often difficult to manage and sustain. The partnership between Texas A&M University and Qatar is an exception,” he added.
“One indicator of the success is reflected in the decision of the Qatar Foundation to invest more than $500 million in a building to house Texas A&M engineering programs,” Bowen said in the op-ed.
“An issue that arose surrounding the partnership with the Qatar Foundation is a November 2023 report titled “Hijacking Higher Education Qatar, The Muslim Brotherhood and Texas A&M.” This report was published by The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism & Policy (ISGAP). Shortly after it was published, Mark A. Welsh III, the president of Texas A&M University, responded with an effective rebuttal to the disinformation propagated in the report. I am troubled by the disinformation spread by ISGAP,” Bowen said.
“I just hope Texas A&M University finds a way to protect the interests of the current students, faculty and staff of the Qatar campus. Some of these individuals have been with the Qatar campus for all of its 21 years,” he said.
