The New York Times takes a look at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) through the eyes of an American student enrolled there. The article, though, is more an overview of the role of KAUST in Saudi society and looking at whether change can come from outside society or must come from within. It’s an interesting piece.

Also interesting is that this article is published under the rubric ‘Thuwal Journal’, suggesting that this will be part of a longer stretch of reporting.

A Saudi Gamble to See if Seeds of Change Will Grow
MICHAEL SLACKMAN

THUWAL, Saudi Arabia — The $12.5 billion question is this: Can Ben Frevert change Saudi Arabia?

Mr. Frevert is 22 years old. He is from Minneapolis. He had never set foot outside the United States until the day he flew to Saudi Arabia, where he became one of the first 400 graduate students to start classes at the sparkling new King Abdullah University of Science and Technology on the Red Sea.

Mr. Frevert’s presence in this conservative kingdom represents a bold, pricey gamble by Saudi Arabia’s monarch, King Abdullah, who allocated about $10 billion to endow the university. The stated goal is to take a country that consistently ranks among the poorest performing nations in education and, with all the brain power and high-tech equipment oil money can buy, build a world-class research center and university.

But there is a less discussed, yet no less consequential, objective: Can the university help this tradition-bound society become more open to new ideas? Can it help Saudi Arabia stamp out the kind of homegrown extremism that has spawned terrorism?
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