UT,Education, Human Rights and The King......of Saudi

Did you know the University of Texas has partnered, and when I say partnered I mean, given an unholy amount of money to, with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology? The institution is located in Saudi Arabia and opened it's doors to the inaugural class in September of this year. And when I say money, I mean millions upon millions of dollars. Ok, so the theory behind this is that KAUST, as it's called, will be the epicenter of education the likes of which the country has never seen. Well, I hope that is true. While the supporters of this university say it will be groundbreaking for the advances in science and technology education, there still seems to be a question of whether this college will be groundbreaking enough to carry through with equal education rights for women and be a campus that truly supports diversity and open discussion for controversial topics. This just goes to show that a private institution without federal or state government regulation can use its funds how it sees fit. Ok, I get that whole private enterprise thing. However, what does it mean when a recognized institution of higher learning in the United States is allocating money to a program in a country who still has a seriously disturbing travel advisory. Published by Crosstalk: A Publication of The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education recently stated"...the State Department's advisory on travel to Saudi Arabia contains this paragragh."Saudi authorities do not allow criticism of Islam or the royal family. The government prohibits the public practice of religions other than Islam. Non-Muslims suspected of violating these restrictions have been jailed." The article explores the question of whether women will be granted actual physical access to the school, as universites do not allow women in the same classrooms as men. This all seems to fall under the catagory of human rights issues and the fact that there is not a guarantee of these "rights and freedoms" attached to an enormous amount of money from a democratic based college seems a little on the absurd side. What ever happened to dissenting voices? The idea that this college could be the one to break new ground is awesome but it seems that UT could have put some caveats into the allotment, especially considering the history of such inequalities. If it's successful, great! It just seems that with the educational crisis looming in the state of Texas, UT could have perhaps allocated some of those millions of dollars to scholarships for women majoring in science and technology or even into funding science and technology programs in the public high schools. On a more national level, shouldn't the government have some kind of restriction on institutions of higher learning that funds other country's enterprises, when the country has adhered to equality and human rights standards?