Professors at Carnegie Mellon Raise Objections to Planned Campus in Africa

September 26, 2011, 6:33 pm

Faculty members at Carnegie Mellon University’s Marianna Brown Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences are raising concerns about the institution’s plan to open a campus in Rwanda. The university’s president, Jared L. Cohon, said he would sit down with the professors to discuss the issues after a petition circulated at the college, said Richard Purcell, an assistant professor of English who organized the protest. The petition questioned the university’s decision to team up with Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame, citing charges that his government has violated human rights and press freedoms. The petition received at least 25 signatures, though Mr. Purcell said he stopped collecting names once Mr. Cohon agreed to the meeting.