The newest branch campus of Texas A&M University, Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ), marked the beginning of its third academic year in August by welcoming the 63 members of the Class of 2009.
The campus is in the 2,500-acre Education City, a consortium of educational and research institutions on the Arab peninsula city of Doha. Education City is a project of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development, and Texas A&M was invited to have a presence there by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Nasser Abdullah Al Missned, foundation chair.
Students
sort through TAMUQ T-shirts.
Four other American universities—Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon, Virginia Commonwealth and Cornell—also have branch campuses in Education City.
“We anticipate an exciting and challenging year working with the Qatar Foundation and our Education City partners and to the further establishment of our engineering program in Qatar,” said Michael Kemp, dean and CEO of TAMUQ.
TAMUQ students can choose from four engineering majors: petroleum, chemical, electrical or mechanical.
Despite its desert terrain, Qatar provides many opportunities for practical applications for student and faculty research, particularly in the oil and gas industry. The 140 students at TAMUQ, who represent more than 20 countries, follow curricula that are identical to the engineering curricula at the main campus in College Station, and they also share the understanding that being an Aggie extends well beyond the classroom door.
Dennis Busch, director of student affairs, and Shannon McNulty, student development specialist, joined nearly 20 students in leading an orientation to help ease the nerves of entering freshmen and fuel their excitement about becoming Aggies.
“As a branch campus, we believe it is essential for our new students to know the history of the main campus and to begin to understand what it means to be part of the Aggie family,” said Busch. “So we invited Senior Yell Leader Will Whitehurst ’06 and Rob McClelland ’04, director of the student-run Aggie Orientation Leader Program, from College Station to Doha to teach the students about life in Aggieland and the many traditions that go along with being an Aggie.”
Whitehurst discussed Texas A&M traditions and led them in the Aggie War Hymn, then encouraged them to create their own unique campus culture.
“The traditions we have in College Station were started by the first students of Texas A&M over 100 years ago. I’d like to challenge you to look down the line many years and decide what kind of place you would like TAMUQ to be,” he said.
As their visit to TAMUQ neared its end, McClelland said, “Our objective was to teach them what we do in College Station so that they can adapt that to their culture in hopes they will create traditions unique to TAMUQ, but now that we have learned so much from the TAMUQ students, it’s our duty to return to College Station and share with them all the wonderful things we learned about the people of Qatar and the students at TAMUQ.”
Proud Aggie moms and dads attended a special session for parents of new students on the first day of orientation. Ahmad Abdulrahman Al-Mulla, the father of freshman Fatima Al-Mulla, pointed out the societal barriers that are being pushed aside to allow his daughter to attend TAMUQ.
“Our country is undergoing tremendous change,” he said. “Qatar is witnessing an industrial boom and hence needs more qualified engineers. Fatima decided to study petroleum engineering and she wants to challenge society to believe that girls can enter any field of study they wish. She aspires to get her degree and to enter the Qatari working force to further contribute in building the country.”