The Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) campus will remain open for another 10 years after Georgetown renewed its contract with the Qatar Foundation (QF), a state-led Qatari education and development nonprofit, April 16.
The contract renewal comes 20 years after the university first opened GU-Q in Education City, Qatar, an area housing eight branch campuses of U.S.- and Europe-based universities. Over 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students have graduated from GU-Q, which offers various programs in the School of Foreign Service (SFS).
Francisco Marmolejo, QF’s president of higher education, said GU-Q has created a generation of international leaders who tackle issues with a global perspective.
“Thanks to this partnership, more than 1,000 diplomats — experts on international relations with a very well-informed and very well-balanced perspective on the U.S., the Middle East and international geopolitical understanding — have been prepared by Georgetown University in Qatar,” Marmolejo told The Hoya.
According to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), the university has received over $909 million in gifts and contracts from Qatar since 2005, part of which has sustained GU-Q.
Salome Mamuladze (SFS-Q ’24, GRD ’26), who is studying for a master’s degree at Georgetown’s Washington, D.C., campus after graduating from GU-Q, said the contract renewal supports a unique international collaboration.
“It’s a major step forward for continuing Georgetown’s mission abroad, and it means another decade of transformative education and cross-cultural exchange in the region,” Mamuladze wrote to The Hoya. “For students like me, it creates opportunities that are truly unique — like studying in Doha while maintaining a strong connection to the broader Georgetown community and network.”
GU-Q Dean Safwan Masri said in a press release that the Qatar campus expands the capacities of higher education.
“This renewal calls on us to reimagine what global higher education at its best can be,” Masri said in the press release. “In a region where tradition and transformation are held in creative tension, GU-Q stands as a space for fearless inquiry, moral imagination, and the pursuit of ideals that transcend the self.”
Maurice Jackson, a professor of history who teaches at both the Hilltop and Qatar campuses, said GU-Q opens the university to a more diverse student body.
“We say that we have the Jesuit tradition, especially the education tradition,” Jackson told The Hoya. “Now we have the opportunity to work with a broader array of people, not just rich white kids, but kids all over the world.”
Marmolejo said Georgetown’s Jesuit values promote interfaith dialogue in Qatar, where Islam is the state religion.
“That has been a great opportunity to realize that, between religions, there is more that is common than what is different,” Marmolejo said. “This is an interfaith dialogue on the perspectives, both from the Christian religion and Islam.”
Multiple international branch campuses in Qatar have also faced congressional scrutiny over potential national security risks and scholarly criticism over human rights issues, particularly poor labor conditions for migrant workers and a lack of free speech protections.
A university spokesperson said Georgetown is committed to the well-being and fair treatment of its employees, including through initiatives like the Joint Task Force on Migrant Worker Welfare, a task force that researches labor practices and consults with labor groups to employ recommendations.
“Georgetown understands its responsibility — as a Catholic, Jesuit, and U.S. institution operating in Doha — to promote and protect migrant worker welfare in Qatar,” a university spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “We care deeply about this work. We recognize that challenges remain and there is still work to be done. And we are committed to continuing to improve the conditions for migrant workers on our own campus and throughout the region.”
A 2020 DOE report accused Georgetown and other universities of failing to disclose gifts from foreign entities, including Qatar, in compliance with the Higher Education Act of 1965. The report alleged the university’s presence in and cooperation with Qatar creates a national security risk.
A university spokesperson said Georgetown cooperated with the DOE in this investigation, and the DOE closed the investigation with no findings.
“Georgetown fully complied with its reporting requirements for the period covered by the Department’s inquiry and continues to be in full compliance,” a university spokesperson wrote.
President Donald Trump also announced in an executive order April 23 that he would increase enforcement of the Higher Education Act and reaffirm the investigation against Georgetown and other universities opened during his first term.
A university spokesperson said Georgetown complies with federal requirements for reporting foreign gifts and contracts.
“Georgetown carefully reviews all gifts to ensure they are in alignment with our values and our educational objectives and retains full authority over expenditure decisions,” a university spokesperson wrote. “All of Georgetown University’s international teaching, research, and service and outreach programs adhere to core institutional values of academic excellence, institutional autonomy, academic freedom, and service to the common good.”
Jonathan Rothschild (CAS ’26), a Hilltop student critical of GU-Q, said the Qatar campus is antithetical to Georgetown’s Jesuit values and human rights commitment.
“Georgetown continues to take money from whatever source it can without any commitment to vetting nor consideration of the values Georgetown claims to represent,” Rothschild wrote to The Hoya.
“Georgetown renewing its relationship with Qatar is shameful,” Rothschild added.
Felicitas Opwis, director of graduate studies for the department of Arabic and Islamic studies, said that, while GU-Q is valuable, she hopes the university uses what influence it has to defend human rights in Qatar.
“I would hope that they put a little more pressure on the Qatari regime about human rights abuses and workers rights in general,” Opwis told The Hoya. “If you can make a difference, absolutely try making it.”
Mamuladze said GU-Q fostered a campus environment tolerant of diverse perspectives and identities.
“I never felt restricted when it came to free speech or religious freedom,” Mamuladze wrote. “In fact, GU-Q was one of the most respectful and inclusive spaces I’ve been a part of. People from all religious and cultural backgrounds felt welcome and safe to express themselves.”
Jackson said Georgetown has ensured its U.S. labor standards also apply to GU-Q, which is why he is comfortable teaching at the campus.
“I wouldn’t go if I thought I was hurting or leading to the exploitation of others,” Jackson said. “I do know that I’m educating people throughout the world which is, for me, an honor.”
According to a university spokesperson, Georgetown and the Qatar Foundation require and enforce all contractors to adhere to the Qatar Foundation Workers’ Welfare Standards for Contractors and Sub-Contractors.
Opwis said Qatar’s interest in training a generation of future leaders could mean the nation eventually outgrows its partnerships with U.S. universities.
“At some point, they will no longer need the American universities,” Opwis said. “Maybe after 10 years, Qatar does not want to renew the relationship. Georgetown can get out what it wants for 10 years, and Qatar gets out what they need.”
Mamuladze said GU-Q’s location in the Middle East gave her an invaluable perspective on international relations.
“Being based in Qatar, I was exposed directly to regional dynamics — whether through coursework, public events, or conversations with peers who came from across the Middle East, South Asia, Africa, and beyond,” Mamuladze wrote. “It gave me a more nuanced understanding of international affairs — one that goes beyond textbook explanations.”
This article was updated April 26, 2025, to include comments from a university spokesperson.