KAUST is a great place for learning. Minus delays in labs being ready, the atmosphere and facilities, as well as the personnel do give great opportunities for pursuing academics. The multicultural, multinational community gives opportunities to learn perspectives, politics and customs from all over the globe. KAUST even employs professionals to help you learn a variety of sports if you so desire. However, it is also a place to learn some of the darker truths.
In a message which many of us read before deciding to sign on with KAUST, and which is still linked to on the KAUST homepage, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud explained what his vision was in building this university. In the message he states:
As a new “House of Wisdom,” the University shall be a beacon for peace, hope, and reconciliation and shall serve the people of the Kingdom and benefit all the peoples of the world in keeping with the teachings of Holy Quran, which explains that God created mankind in order for us to come to know each other.
-King Abdullah
The problem is that the way KAUST is now run, the university is a beacon of oppression and exploitation to many. While for those of us labeled “KAUST residents” or “community members” this university has been a great place to build relationships which bridge cultures, those acting, for all intensive purposes, as our servants are prevented from “coming to know” the rest of us. Students have made friends with people who collect their garbage, serve their coffee, maintain their apartments, train them physically, etc. Some of these students have invited their friends for dinner, only to find out that the people who built the apartments, and the people who maintain the apartments are not allowed to enter the apartments on invitation. Other students played basketball with a group of their friends until it was discovered with outrage that “tea boys” were using the basketball court. Signs prevent these servants from using certain bathrooms, elevators, and even drinking fountains.
I’ve been to South Africa and have seen the remnants of the apartheid. There are townships, some with millions of people, surrounding the cities. They were built as a place for the native Africans to live so that the Afrikaners could exploit their labor while not having to live among them. Much in the same way, KAUST has worker camps set up on the outskirts of our campus, but fenced off from the rest of our campus, so that the thousands of workers who are the backbone of our university, will not be among us when they are not serving us. The administrative reasoning is that there will be overcrowding, and that these workers are dangerous people who will likely lie and steal if given a chance.
I am not writing this blog with the intent of placing blame on any organization or individual. I am writing this blog, because I cannot in good conscience reap the benefits of this university, and of my neighbors’ hard work, while my neighbors are treated without dignity and decency. There are many students and staff who feel the same way, so God willing change will come.
