The University of Utah and Ariel University signed a Global U partnership memorandum of understanding on May 19.
The university routinely signs agreements with colleges and universities around the world. Currently, the U has more than 100 such agreements—including in India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Global partnership MOUs usually are initiated by faculty as a result of relationships they have developed around the world in their research, teaching and mentorship activities.
“The University of Utah seeks and maintains cooperation with higher education institutions, government, and non-government entities throughout the world,” Global U’s partnership guidelines state. “Partnerships should be mutually beneficial, equitable, and lead to outcomes that each partnering institution could not achieve on its own. There should be a strong commitment by the principal parties at both partnering institutions to combine resources and achieve common goals.”
As a public institution, the University of Utah will discuss MOUs with any college or university. The U has students from around the world, as well as “faculty research activities” in Libya, Mongolia, Pakistan and in the West Bank and Gaza (Palestine).
There are exceptions; the university has not signed any MOUs with institutions in Iran or North Korea.
“The University of Utah strives to create partnerships with the potential to generate outcomes that are transformative for both partner institutions,” Global U says.
Critics of the MOU say that Ariel University is illegally located in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in the settlement city of Ariel. They also raise questions about whether the university is open to all applicants—including Palestinian and Muslim residents of Israel who are not allowed to enter the West Bank. The school reports a student body of 15,000.
The U’s chapter of the group Faculty for Justice in Palestine is circulating a petition calling for the university to terminate the agreement and abandon any partnership with the university. Other campus community members have raised questions and concerns about the MOU serving as a statement of support for Israel in its war in Gaza, or a divergence from state law which requires institutional neutrality. Neither is true.
For its part, a spokesman from Ariel University says the university does not ban Palestinian or Muslim students.
“We are a proud Israeli institution whose student body reflects the full diversity of Israeli society. Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Bedouins study together here in an atmosphere of mutual respect,” said Mark Lewis, international public relations director. “Admission is based solely on academic merit – not ethnicity, religion, or political background. Claims to the contrary are deeply disappointing and risk sowing unnecessary division.”
Lewis also noted community-centered research projects that benefit the Palestinian neighbors around the university, including designing new clean-burning kilns to improve air quality in the West Bank.
Discussions of the MOU began in the fall of 2023 before Israel launched its major offensive in Gaza. In this case, a computer science dean from Ariel University traveled to Utah for an academic conference and reached out to university leaders. A delegation from the university and Israel’s consulate in Los Angeles later visited campus for a signing ceremony.
The agreement calls for joint research, student-faculty exchanges and discussion of shared initiatives in medical education, data science and artificial intelligence.
The MOU expires in five years.