This article was updated on March 28.
Texas A&M University faculty members employed strong words during their Senate meeting Monday to convey displeasure with the university administration’s response to the planned closure of the A&M Qatar campus.
On Feb. 8, the Texas A&M System Board of Regents voted in favor 7-1 to authorize A&M President Mark A. Welsh III to terminate the contract between A&M and the Qatar Foundation and close the campus by 2028. The board’s decision came just weeks after a Washington D.C. think tank named the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Police (ISGAP) published a report claiming that the Qatari government was using A&M’s Qatar campus to access nuclear research, a claim that Welsh labeled as “false and irresponsible” in a Jan. 7 letter to the public. In the same letter, Welsh said the Qatar campus is not involved in any nuclear research.
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In a Feb. 8 letter to the public titled “An Important Update on the Qatar Campus,” Welsh said he was committed to improving transparency and that the decision regarding the Qatar campus was made after “thoughtful discussion” on A&M’s mission. On Feb. 11, Welsh also held a town hall where faculty members and students shared their opinions on the decision.
“Our students, faculty and staff in Qatar are priority number one as we navigate the road ahead,” he said in the letter distributed to the university campus community. “I’ve been in communication with those most directly impacted by this decision and will plan to keep the greater university community updated through my monthly emails.”
In a March 27 brief, Welsh said Texas A&M Provost and Executive Vice President Alan Sams has extended letters of support to the 23 faculty members who were identified in the ISGAP report.
Six weeks after the board’s vote, the A&M Faculty Senate passed a resolution 64-0 in support of their Qatar colleagues and claimed the university administration had failed to adequately defend faculty members who have allegedly been targeted as a result of the ISGAP report. During the Senate meeting, faculty members said that the ISGAP report presented false information about some of the colleagues.
During the discussion on the Qatar campus, A&M Professor of Neuroscience Rajesh Miranda said it affects all of A&M’s faculty, not just those working at the Qatar campus, and that the Senate should consider having Welsh speak with them.
“What we have here is evidence that any external agency can write something with very little support,” he said during the live-streamed meeting Monday. “The really troubling issue is that our administration cowers and falls at the least criticism. … The fact that it is Qatar is immaterial.”
According to Miranda, faculty members at the College Station campus have been targeted before.
“What do we do about this and how do we address an administration that essentially gives all appearances of running scared,” he said. “They’re willing to do hasty things to avoid criticism.”
Raymundo Arroyave, a professor of Materials Science & Engineering, agreed with Miranda and said he believed A&M has a history of not defending its professors.
“We have to call on the administration; they always let faculty fend for themselves and they cower at the first little whatever report that some crazy people write on Texas A&M faculty,” he said. “We cannot count on them to defend us and yet they ask too much of faculty. … I think that A&M is excellent in spite of the administration that it has. It’s because of the faculty and students that we have, not because of the administration.”
A&M Qatar engineering professor Mohammed Al-Hashimi read a statement written by Qatar faculty members during the Senate meeting. In the statement, Al-Hashimi said the allegations made in the ISGAP report were completely false and threatened the livelihoods of those named in it.
“The faculty listed by names and projects outlined in the report urgently appeal for their names to be cleared,” the statement said. “The allegations within the report are defamatory and pose a significant threat to our job security, personal safety and the well-being of our families. This situation not only affects us as Texas A&M faculty but also has implications for our local and global collaborators, researchers and students.”
Al-Hashimi continued and said that A&M Qatar holds high standards for its research and that nuclear research was not included in any of the campus’ studies.
“It is crucial that this situation is resolved promptly to minimize the negative impact on the transition process,” he said. “We are dedicated to protecting the rights and reputation of our faculty members against any false or misleading allegations. … We wish to categorically refute these claims as baseless and misleading.”
A&M Qatar history professor Brittany Bounds said the professors named in the ISGAP report do not even study in any fields related to nuclear engineering.
“The false allegations published by ISGAP and their two reports are damaging and harmful to the targeted faculty and their ability to research,” she said. “The faculty mentioned are chemists and physics, not nuclear scientists, and their projects focus on benign subjects that have nothing to do with national security.”
Bounds went on to read the resolution in support of Qatar’s faculty before the Senate proceeded to vote.
“Whereas Texas A&M University at Qatar conducts research, which is in the public interest and non-classified, Texas A&M University at Qatar complies with all export controls and regulations,” she read. “Texas A&M University upholds academic freedom and protects faculty from false and misleading accusations. Other organizations have suggested that faculty at Texas A&M University at Qatar conduct research related to national security and nuclear issues. These suggestions are false and misleading. Be it resolved that the Faculty Senate stands by these colleagues. These faculty are in good standing in Texas A&M University in their disciplines and in the scholarly community of the United States of America.”