Carnegie Mellon University in Africa

Higher education partnerships that offer quality education in other countries is a form of knowledge diplomacy and it often comes with financial benefit to the higher education partner that is willing to commit to these oases of learning. Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh has two partnerships in countries where non-democratic governments are in place - Rwanda and Qatar. Both of these partnerships have caused skeptics to question if presence in a non-democratic setting is acceptable.

MasterCard Foundation's commitment of $275.7 million to the Rwanda partnership raised previous concerns to a new level. Carnegie Mellon University - Africa in Rwanda evolved from a small 2-year masters in engineering program in 2011. Growing enrollment/profile and concerns about Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, who has been criticized for multiple human rights abuses, have invigorated earlier concerns.

Recognizing two different views of what a higher education institution is might help inform the debate in this specific example, or in any international higher education partnership. In one view, is a higher education institution primarily a virtuous enclave where scholars and learners go to be perfected in their intellectual insight and prepared to live their best lives? By contrast, is a higher education institution an imperfect instrument of learning and evolutionary change that should engage with its scholars, learners, and communities as a platform for improving individual and collective life?

If higher education is perceived as a virtuous enclave then remaining distant from flawed and potentially abusive governments is likely justified. On the other hand, accepting higher education as imperfect and in search of refined knowledge and improved ways of learning would lead to engaging completely, with eyes wide open, but not pretending that either a higher education institution or specific government is ideal. The partnership is necessarily about transformation of both.