Georgetown University and Arab Oil Money

"Georgetown University has received a $20 million gift to name the new building for its McDonough School of Business in memory of the late Rafik B. Hariri, two-time prime minister of Lebanon. The gift was made by Hariri’s son, Saad Hariri, the newly designated prime minister of Lebanon and a 1992 alumnus of the McDonough School of Business." I only post this because people in the Middle East need to be more educated about the nature of corruption and wastah in Western societies. Many people in the Middle East assume that Wastah is a unique feature of Middle East socities as if such practices are unknown in the West. But private universities are particularly vulnerable in that regard because prestige and repuation are built not by academic programs and student assistances but by the size of the endowments. The University of Exteter in the UK was a place where wealthy oil Arabs could donate money and earn (and bestow) degrees. (I am told that it is better now but I remain skeptical). Oxford University has been courting Arab ruling elites and polygamous princes for decades and it has become more fanatic in recent years: I know of various Shaykhs and princes who go to Oxford and barely attend classes and may or may not attend meetings with university-assigned tutors. The US system is not any different although American universities may on occasion claim political chastitiy. Thus, Harvard university turned down a donation from Shaykh Zayid and yet accepted large donations from King Fahd. Georegeotwn University has also been quite corrupt in courting Arab oil money. I went to school with at least two students who got into Georgetown because their parents donated money (from arms' trades) to the univeristy. How do you think mini-Hariri got accepted into Georgetown? His good grades? And now we have a business school named after Rafiq Hariri and the Center for Christian-Muslim Understanding is named after Prince Al-Walid (Al-Walid initially wanted to give the money to the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies but there were voices inside which objected to the renaming of the center after the polygamous prince). But what upset me about this donation is this: Rafiq Hariri went to the Arab University of Beirut: do you know what a $20 million donation mean to that university? But no, the Hariri family does not think that there is prestige in donating to an Arab univeristy. They want to impress the White Man, first and foremost. (thanks Manal)