John O’Brian, Rector of Concordia University, declared today that the institution will not enter into any exchange agreement with Saudi Arabia which discriminates against Jewish students or faculty. At the same time, he acknowledged that the matter is bound to come up because of the Saudis’ discriminatory policies.
O’Brian was referring to a proposed exchange agreement with King Faisal University in Riyadh which aroused an angry controversy because of the possibility that Jewish faculty and students would not be able to participate. “If we get to the point of serious discussions with the Saudis, we will make our position clear,” he said. O’Brian added, however, “we are not naive at the university and I can assure you the matter would have to come up sooner or later. We have all heard reports in the news media that Saudi Arabia discriminates against Jews.”
Yesterday, more than 300 faculty members, administrators and students called on O’Brian to make it clear beyond doubt that Concordia is opposed to on exchange that discriminates against Jews. Lindsay Chrysler, acting head of the communications department, said he was told by the university administration earlier this year that Jews would not be allowed into Saudi Arabia. (By Michael Solomon)
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