Lawfare Project-HarrisX poll: Americans are concerned about foreign influence on education
Qatar, a tiny country in the Middle East with deep ties to terrorist groups like Hamas and the Taliban, has spent billions of dollars funding American universities in an apparent effort to influence or control teaching, use college campuses as centers for propaganda, and to project soft power. With antisemitism rising on many American campuses, there are increasing concerns that this foreign funding runs afoul of U.S. law and helps foment Jew-hatred.
The Lawfare Project has been working to address these concerns. We recently commissioned HarrisX, one of the most well-respected market research and analytics companies, to conduct a groundbreaking survey on public perception of foreign funding in education.
As the Washington Free Beacon just reported, this survey shows that once Americans are aware of the issue of foreign funding in education, they are concerned that Qatar is influencing what is taught in our classrooms and on campus.
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani
Some of the survey’s key findings:
84% of American adults believe that parents have the right to know if Qatar is funding their child’s education
81% of American voters support more stringent legislation requiring universities to account for every dollar received and what it is spent on
70% of American adults are concerned about foreign funding influencing what is taught in the classroom and on campus.
These findings strongly support The Lawfare Project’s work to compel Qatar’s agents to register as foreign agents under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, and to reform Section 117 of the Higher Education Act to improve foreign funding disclosure requirements. This is crucial to providing what the American public demands: greater transparency of funding sources and accountability as to what that funding is used for.
This is particularly important given the significant rise in antisemitism on college campuses. If foreign funds are used to foment Jew-hatred, they must be cut off.
"The public wants full transparency on what Qatar is funding in American schools, and Congress must demand it," Brooke Goldstein, The Lawfare Project’s Executive Director, told the Free Beacon. "Parents have a right to know what foreign governments are teaching our children."
The Lawfare Project’s attorneys are working to address the pernicious influence of foreign funding in our schools. You can help our efforts by sharing this email and the Free Beacon article, and raise awareness of the billions of foreign dollars flowing into our universities. Raising awareness is important in securing action from our government and transparency from our schools. Together, we can make a difference on campus. Thank you for your continued support!