US Judge Orders Carnegie Mellon to Disclose Documents on Qatari Money in Explosive Lawsuit

A US federal judge has ordered Carnegie Mellon University to release documents relating to its $1 billion financial relationship with the government of Qatar, an arrangement which has allegedly led to the country’s purchasing influence over how the school handles antisemitic incidents.

The ruling, issued last week, is the latest development in a lawsuit filed by The Lawfare Project on behalf of a Jewish Israeli student, Yael Canaan, who came forward to accuse one of the Pittsburgh university’s top DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) and civil rights officials of being a bystander to a series of antisemitic incidents. She allegedly witnessed a number of the incidents and refused to address them in accordance with antidiscrimination policies which explicitly proscribe racial abuse and harassment.

Canaan originally sought redress for an incident in which Carnie Mellon (CMU) professor Mary-Lou Arscott told her to submit a project which would show “what Jews do to make themselves such a hated group,” according to court documents. Later, the diversity official, who is not named in the filing, allegedly perpetrated illegal wiretapping in an attempted mediation between Arscott and Canaan, recording their conversation without securing the consent of every party who participated in the dialogue.

Carnegie Mellon University is located in Pennsylvania, a “two-party consent state” which proscribes recording conversations without the consent of every participant.

With the DEI official’s knowledge, Arscott allegedly continued to harass Canaan after the mediation by sending her a note which contained a link to an “antisemitic journal.” As the conflict progressed, a gang of CMU faculty piled on, reducing her marks and accusing her of “acting like a victim.” Canaan was also told that no one at CMU would “be an advocate for the Jews,” according to court documents.

Discovery has since revealed that the unnamed DEI official, whose sole responsibility is to protect students like Canaan from harassment and discrimination based on race, ethnic origin, and sex, is receiving a salary partly funded by Qatari money — which The Lawfare Project described as an example of foreign influence interfering with the enforcement of civil rights laws passed by US lawmakers.

Now, a judge has ordered Carnegie Mellon University to turn over a slew of documents “reflecting the full economic benefit received from its Qatari relationship,” a decision The Lawfare Project touted as both a major victory in the case and a dramatic revelation of the consequences of foreign influence in American higher education.

“This case shines a light on a dangerous civil rights conflict hiding in plain sight,” Lawfare Project director Ziporah Reich said in a statement. “Foreign governments with appalling human rights records are funding the very offices meant to protect students’ civil rights. This should alarm every parent, every student, and every policymaker in this country. The court recognized that foreign government funding is not peripheral but potentially central to understanding how civil rights laws are applied on campus.”

She continued, “That acknowledgement opens the door for courts nationwide to examine whether hostile foreign state interests are shaping institutional behavior in ways that undermine US law.”

Carnegie Mellon University — which has not responded to The Algemeiner’s request for comment on this story — is not the only school to be accused of being restrained from taking action on antisemitism by a straitjacket of Qatari money.

Last month, the Middle East Forum (MEF) issued a report titled “Qatar’s Multidimensional Takeover of Georgetown University,” which described how Qatar has allegedly exploited and manipulated Georgetown since 2005 by hooking the school on money that buys influence, promotes Islamism, and degrades the curricula of one of the most recognized names in American higher education.

“The unchecked funds provided by Qatar demonstrate how foreign countries can shape scholarship, faculty recruitment, and teaching in our universities to reflect their preferences,” the report explained. “At Georgetown, courses and research show growing ideological drift toward post-colonial scholarship, anti-Western critiques, and anti-Israel advocacy, with some faculty engaged in political activism related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or anti-Western interventionism.”

Georgetown is hardly the only school to receive Qatari money. Indeed, Qatar is the single largest foreign source of funding to American colleges and universities, according to a recently launched public database from the US Department of Education that reveals the scope of overseas influence in US higher education. Meanwhile, the federal dashboard shows Qatar has provided $6.6 billion in gifts and contracts to US universities, more than any other foreign government or entity. Of the schools that received Qatari money, Cornell University topped the list with $2.3 billion, followed by Carnegie Mellon University ($1 billion), Texas A&M University ($992.8 million), and Georgetown ($971.1 million).

“Qatar has proved highly adept at compromising individuals and institutions with cold hard cash,” MEF Campus Watch director Winfield Myers said in a statement. “But with Georgetown, it found a recipient already eager to do Doha’s bidding to advance Islamist goals at home and abroad. It was a natural fit.”

Another recent MEF report raised concerns about Northwestern University’s Qatar campus (NU-Q), accusing it of having undermined the school’s mission to foster academic excellence by functioning as a “pipeline” for the next generation of a foreign monarchy’s leadership class.

MEF found that 19 percent of NU-Q graduates carry the surnames of “either the Al-Thani family or other elite Qatari families.” Additionally, graduates from the House of Thani, the country’s royal family, are overrepresented in NU-Q by a factor of five despite being only 2 percent of the population.

The report also said that NU-Q uses its immense wealth, which includes a whopping $700 million in funding from Qatar, to influence the Evanston campus in Illinois, Northwestern’s flagship institution.

“Endowed chairs, faculty exchanges, and governance links” reportedly purchase opinions which are palatable to the Qatari elite instead of investments in new NU-Q campus facilities and programs.

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.