Georgetown gets $20 million from Saudi prince

Parent Cafe
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<p>A very disturing development at Georgetown:</p>

<p><blog link=“” removed=“” -=“” story=“” from=“” georgetown=“” publication=“” inserted=“”></blog></p>

<p>$20 Million Donation to SFS</p>

<p>HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, an internationally renowned Saudi businessman and global investor, donated $20 million to Georgetown University to support and expand the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (CMCU). The Center, part of
the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, is a world leader in scholarship and research in Islamic studies and Muslim-Christian relations. John Esposito, University Professor and founding director of CMCU is a preeminent expert in this field.
<a href=“http://www3.georgetown.edu/sfs/programs/gls/newsletters/GLS_Newsletter06winter.pdf[/url]”>http://www3.georgetown.edu/sfs/programs/gls/newsletters/GLS_Newsletter06winter.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>One of the big selling points at Yale when we were looking four years ago was a $500M gift from the Saudis.</p>

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<p>SS:
Why is this disturbing? G’town got money from a donor and named a center after him. The removal of the evangelical group may or may not have anything to do with this (article offered no evidence of a connection). And what does evangelical Christianity have to do with historic Catholic and Jesuit philosophy?</p>

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<p>

Well, I would think that having the same fundamental beliefs would be something in common, wouldn’t you? There certainly is a MUCH stronger commonality in beliefs between a group like Intervarsity and the Catholic church than what is shared with Islam.</p>

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<p>I’ll assume you’re serious with your question and will answer it by saying that I think that evangelical Christianity is a bit closer to Catholicism than Islam is. Georgetown can take money from whomever they want to. That being said Georgetown will apparently do anything for a buck. Personally I prefer Rudy Giuliani’s view of the Prince’s money. When the Prince gave a check in the amount of $10 million to NYC immediately after 3000 people were killed in the Twin Towers, he told him to **** off. That’s why Rudy has a legitimate shot at being elected President. Some folks on the right may not like his position on social issues, but they really like his position on terrorism and radical Islam.</p>

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<p>Well, I found President Ahmadinejad’s comments this month at a Ramadan celebration rather disturbing: “Satan gives inspiration to the president of America.” These statement were delivered as crowds cheered “Death to Israel! Death to America!” The Catholic and Jesuit traditions center around the search for truth & collaborating with other cultures & religious traditions. I guess all those born-again Christians who kidnap and behead infidels, especially the Jewish apes & pigs, finally had to be set straight by Georgetown. </p>

<p>driver: That’s not nearly as exciting as having an al-Qaeda leader as a classmate.</p>

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<p>The Taliban guy wasn’t there yet, but good point!</p>

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<p>What is the connection between Ahmadinajad and the Saudis? Why do you think G’town should not have taken Tal’s money?</p>

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<p>All Islamists are related as big bad bogeymen, according to Bush.</p>

<p>No matter that all the sects hate each other at least as much as they hate us. By Bush equating them as one and the same, they are morphed into a common enemy, which is patently untrue.</p>

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<p>Wow, is this a great example of how slanders get going. Let’s start with:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>the center that received the bucks already existed.</p></li>
<li><p>the center is an academic unit. For those that don’t know much about higher ed, academic units are ALL vetted and controlled by the U administration. FWIW, endowment funds rarely lead to any content control. Better universities are pretty adament about this.</p></li>
<li><p>the evangelical group kicked out was an EC, over which the U had no content control etc. It was a student led group.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Now, how can one conflate these two things? </p>

<p>Stickershock should be ashamed of him/herself for promoting such a slander.</p>

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<p>Why did Georgetown kick out InterVarsity? (Did I get that right?) I am aware that there are fundamentalist Christian groups who believe the Pope is the incarnation of the devil, and that LUther considered him to be the Anti-Christ, but I would have doubted that such folks would have attended Georgetown to begin with.</p>

<p>So what’s the deal?</p>

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<p>Newmassdad, it’s hard to feed a decent hyteria if you just stick to facts and a rational assessments of their significance. Georgetown is just fodder for people wo are loking for things to become “very disturbed” about.</p>

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<p>mini,</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>You can find two good stories here:
<a href=“http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/post/index/434/Georgetowns-Protestant-campus-ministry-spat[/url]”>http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/post/index/434/Georgetowns-Protestant-campus-ministry-spat&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/november/1.22.html[/url]”>http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/november/1.22.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Keep in mind that, as a private university, Georgetown has a good deal of flexibility regarding who and what use its facilities.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the links.</p>

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<p>Even though Georgetown is a private university, I believe it still receives some government funding. Wouldn’t that bar them from practicing religious discrimination?</p>

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</p>

<p>The world is irony right to the core. The Roman Catholic Church is one of the oldest, most successful evangelical Christian churches of all time. May I suggest some study of church history?</p>

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<p>logo:
do you meazn that they ‘have’ to take the prince’s money? or that they ‘have’ to allow anti-catholic groups to use their property?</p>

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<p>Tyler:
may I suggest some study of common contemporary usage. ‘Evangelical’ groups are Protestant. They do not accept the Pope as the head of the church. The doctrinal differences between Evangelicals and Papists are to numerous to list here, but if you are interested I am sure you can find out. Ask your Priest.</p>

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<p>gla,
I mean that because they receive government funding, they are not allowed to practice religious discrimination. Isn’t that correct?</p>

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<p>

Who said it didn’t? Is this relevant? No. What is relevant is how the mission of the center has now changed.

Content is changing in this case. That’s what this post is about. A specific center at Georgetown, not the hypothetical “rarely.” The prince who made the donation is the same one who offered a “strings attached” $10million check to Rudy G after 9/11. Rudy refused. Gerogetown cashed in. Too bad.

So? What are the chances that a muslim student group would be kicked out? There is considerable tension between various born-again sects and the Catholic Church. Why all of a sudden is there a need to boot them out?</p>

<p>There are no spirited debates at Muslim centers funded by Arab princes. There are always strings attached. I imagine there was much spirited debate between students who were born-agains and Catholics over the subject of Intelligent Design, for example. A Catholic such as myself might have a problem with the lack of science in the ID theory, but I’d not advocate they be removed from campus. Muslims would NEVER be treated this way on an American college campus.</p>