The ANU Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies, which has operated since 1994, counts on its advisory board Mirza Al-Sayegh, an adviser to the deputy ruler of Dubai, and former United Arab Emirates government minister Khalifa Bakhit Al-Falasi, also a former ambassador to Australia.
The ANU has come under fire over its handling of the Ramsay Centre deal, which was to result in a degree in Western civilisation inspired by the “great books” courses at New York’s Columbia University and the University of Chicago, backed by a substantial scholarship program.
Explaining its decision to cease negotiations on Friday, ANU vice-chancellor Brian Schmidt said “the sponsored program” sought by the Ramsay Centre was “not compatible” with the university’s “autonomy”.
He had been lobbied by the National Tertiary Education Union and the students association, which said the prospective course would push a “racist” and “radically conservative agenda”.
Read the article by Rebecca Urban in The Australian.