VZCZCXRO0253
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHGI RUEHJS RUEHKUK RUEHLH RUEHPW
RUEHROV
DE RUEHJI #0047/01 0321657
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 011657Z FEB 09
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1146
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUCNISL/ISLAMIC COLLECTIVE
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 8227

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000047 
 
SIPDIS 
 
RIYADH PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN; DEPT FOR NEA/ARP; ECA, 
ECA/A/E, ECA/A/E/NEA; OES; CA/OCS/ACS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON KISL PGOV TPHY KPAO SA
SUBJECT: HIGHER EDUCATION TAKING A LEAP FORWARD IN SAUDI 
ARABIA WITH 60-70 AMERICAN GRADUATE STUDENTS REGISTERED FOR 
STUDY AT KING ABDULLAH UNIVERSITY FOR SCIENCE AND 
TECHNOLOGY (KAUST) NEAR JEDDAH 
 
REF: 07 JEDDAH 0481 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: In early January the King Abdullah 
University for Science and Technology (KAUST), slated to open 
in September 2009, held an on-site pre-orientation in Jeddah 
for 320 students including 60-70 from the U.S. and 
approximately 100 students from Saudi Arabia.  Virtually all 
students will receive full scholarships and generous stipends 
at a graduate university designed to offer a liberal social 
environment in a country known for its highly restrictive 
social, cultural and religious atmosphere. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) A GLIMPSE AT JEDDAH FOR INCOMING STUDENTS:  A 
pre-orientation event for incoming KAUST students was held in 
Jeddah January 4-11. The program consisted of informational 
sessions about all aspects of the university, opportunities 
for students to mingle, attend student-faculty advising 
sessions, and featured tours of the KAUST campus and downtown 
Jeddah. The program including all travel for students was 
fully funded.  KAUST even paid air fares and hotels for 
parents of prospective students to join a pre-departure 
orientation session in the U.S. 
 
¶3. (U) According to credible sources, there will be somewhere 
between 320 and 400 international students when KAUST opens 
in September 2009 with approximately 100 Saudi nationals. 
Students apply to the program during their sophomore or 
junior year of undergraduate study in order to be accepted 
into the master's degree program at KAUST.   Virtually all 
students admitted receive full tuition and a stipend for 
their time at KAUST as well as for their remaining years of 
undergraduate study following acceptance. 
 
¶4. (SBU) 60-70 US STUDENTS TO ATTEND KAUST: 60-70 American 
students from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds are 
currently enrolled at KAUST.  This may be the first large 
cohort of American graduate students ever to engage in formal 
degree study at a university in Saudi Arabia for an extended 
period of time.  The students have been recruited through the 
Institute of International Education (IIE), attracted by the 
promise of free tuition and generous stipends, 
state-of-the-art research facilities and funding to match, 
along with such perks as Cleveland Clinic health care amid an 
overall atmosphere of largesse. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) CULTURAL AWARENESS NOT A PRIORITY: Poloff spoke 
with several American students attending the orientation. 
Some complained mildly about being minimally informed about 
the traditional culture, religion, and society of Saudi 
Arabia and indicated that they thought KAUST might not have 
been 100% forthright about the restrictive local environment. 
 One American student explained that study at KAUST is a 
tremendous deal all around and noted that interest is 
developing among the students in attempting to understand and 
explore Saudi society to the extent allowed. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) DEFYING LOCAL DRESS CODE:  Students took an 
organized tour of historic downtown Jeddah.  Female students 
were not advised to wear the traditional abaya (black 
cloaklike garment) over their clothes -- in defiance of local 
custom and practice accepted as required for women, Middle 
Eastern and Western, going about in public in Saudi Arabia. 
Downtown Jeddah is considered one of the more conservative 
areas in the city where the Muttawa (morality police) are 
known to congregate. 
 
¶7. (SBU) LIBERAL CAMPUS LIFE: KAUST's intent is to create at 
the isolated campus, one hour north of Jeddah, a haven for 
co-educational pursuits, including two cinemas, sports clubs, 
restaurants, shopping centers and even a marina. 
International schools following several foreign curricular 
models will be built for the children of KAUST students and 
faculty. All students and faculty, including Saudi nationals, 
are provided with on-campus family housing, but are free to 
leave the campus at will.  Women students are supposed to 
have the right to drive on the campus, similar to the 
arrangement at the ARAMCO compound in Eastern Saudi Arabia. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) VILLAGE REDEVELOPMENT: KAUST is located west of the 
small, underdeveloped, rural Saudi village of Thuwwal. KAUST 
officials announced that they have a plan for the sustainable 
development of the village. The plan depicts a revitalized 
Thuwwal to include high-end restaurants and commercial space. 
 Likely the village will be leveled or renovated to create a 
picturesque "Williamsburg" environment for KAUST residents, 
 
JEDDAH 00000047  002 OF 002 
 
 
perhaps displacing the indigenous community. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) MEETING SEPTEMBER 2009 DEADLINE:  KAUST employs 
32,000 workers round-the-clock to make certain that the 
facilities are completed since the King has been assured of a 
September 2009 on-time opening.  The student audience were 
told that the development is on schedule with construction 
happening at a pace far exceeding the normal time-line in the 
Kingdom. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) WHAT KAUST MEANS FOR SAUDI ARABIA: KAUST has 
established linkages with several other universities, in 
particular with Effat College (now Effat University), a local 
private women's institution named for the esteemed late wife 
of King Faisal.  However, with the majority of KAUST students 
and faculty non-Saudis, there is no immediate plan to change 
the demographic mix or to "Saudi-ize" the university. 
Officials commented that KAUST's mission for the Kingdom is 
to produce landmark research that will boost Saudi 
productivity with an emphasis on energy technology.  The 
university is intended to portray Saudi Arabia to the outside 
world as a modern center for advanced scientific discovery 
and innovation. 
 
¶11. (SBU) COMMENT. With the aim of attracting foreign 
scientific and technological talent to Saudi Arabia, KAUST is 
setting social norms designed to be far more relaxed and 
liberal than at other institutions of higher education in the 
Kingdom.  Conveying an understanding of Saudi conservative 
custom, culture and society does not appear to be a KAUST 
priority.  Post will monitor the experience of 60-70 American 
students during academic year 2009-10 as a factor in 
determining the feasibility of establishing a U.S. Student 
Fulbright program in Saudi Arabia.  END COMMENT. 
QUINN