Cal Poly is in SA for the Money and this is BUSINESS

Saudis they decide on how to do things with their people
You cant change people from the Holly country like this
It is conservative and it will always be that way.
It will be modernized but at their own rythm and without external push

and Saudis are powerfull today: 45% of the World Oil

So everybody shut up cause money talks

Caly Poly does a good Job and the people allowed to study in KSA will learn a lot a contribute to their country

I’m no good at remembering details, but all this is very reminiscent of the idea a few decades ago that we should shun South Africa as punishment for their system of apartheid. US companies, according to those who considered themselves enlightened, ought to get out and stay out. But I was also aware that when US companies were in South Africa they did their best to do the right thing, subject to the constraints they had to operate under. (Something about a “Sullivan rule” I believe.) I felt at the time that on balance it was better for the black people of South Africa for us to stay engaged. However, as I understood it, there was good reason to think that those black people did indeed want us to get out. (Bishop Tutu’s position?) How that all looks now in hindsight I do not know.

According to my understanding, Cal Poly is doing nothing more than developing an educational program for a university in KSA. Cal Poly professors will not be teaching in the KSA university nor will KSA students be awarded Cal Poly degrees. It is also my understanding that the program is open to all Cal Poly professors/staff irrespective of race, gender or religion and all costs will be reimbursed by KSA and thus no taxpayer money will be spent on the project.

I have a long-standing interest in women’s educational issues, particularly in the Middle East because of my area of study. In my view, it is warranted for people to be concerned about women’s rights in the Middle East generally, and, in particular, in KSA. It is also true that post-911, things changed markedly in the Kingdom educationally as they are changing throughout the Middle East, notably in Jordan. True, most classes in KSA are still delivered in a gender segregated environment according to custom. However all the five major KSA universities educate both men and women and, in fact, over half the enrollment in those universities is female. The stated goal of King Abdullah is for KSA to become an industrialized nation within the next two decades and to do this he has recognized the necessity of an educated workforce. Implicit in that goal is the ulitilization of the talents of women.

The King has invested, out of his personal fortune, $10 bil US, in the creation of KAUST - the first world-class technological university in KSA. Many notable Western universities are involved with the creation of KAUST and other Saudi universities, among them Cornell University, Harvard Medical, Carnegie Mellon, and others. Duke University in 2005 set up an elelctrical engineering program, similar to the one proposed at Cal Poly, at the all women’s college, Effat, which was enormously successful and has led to the first true student exchange program that took place this past month. Also that year KSA established a signifcant scholarship program to send students to the US and around the world. This year over 15,000 students will be funded up to $31,000 each to attend college in the US at many public and private universities, including the Universities of Kansas, Missouri, Oregon and others. These schools are competively seeking Saudi students and Saudi students, particularly women, are eager to come. Clearly, KSA is making significant progress in growing their educated population - of both genders.

In my view, the issue is whether or not we in the US should make efforts to encourage this trend in the expectation that education and eventual cultural exchange will be the key to more equitable human rights in the KSA, the Middle East and the world at large.

Patience is helpful in this regard. We in America have struggled with achieving equality in our society. The US Women’s Movement began in 1848 and it was not until the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920 that women could vote. Similarly, our educational system was segregated racially until well after the Brown decision in 1954. Many USD citizens argue that they still have not achieved full civil rights in America.

Cal Poly SLO has been a source of pride for all California citizens and particularly for those on the central coast. As a CA taxpayer I am enormously proud to have my university counted in the ranks of Ivy League and other world-class American universities. The Kingdom is far from perfect, but perhaps - just maybe - Cal Poly will have a small part in improving the human rights of women and others in KSA and thereby change the course of history in the Middle East.

Is it not better to let the light shine in than to close the shutters and remain in darkness?

Is Bryn Mawr a state school like Cal Poly or a private university?

So, if Rutgers was all male up to 1970, then we can never criticize any other institutions that are all male?