Georgetown University is under fire for its growing Qatar ties, after interim president Robert Groves defended awarding a presidential medal to a Qatari royal who celebrated the Hamas Oct. 7 terror attack. Groves insisted Monday that Georgetown is “very proud of our mission in Qatar” as he defended the school’s nearly $1 billion relationship with the Gulf state.
Groves justified the medal given to Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, saying her decades of work “educating the poorest children of the world” aligned with Georgetown’s Jesuit values. But critics point out she lauded late Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar days after Oct. 7, claiming “he will live on, and they will be gone.” Republican lawmakers called the decision a betrayal of Georgetown’s Catholic mission.
When confronted about anti-Semitic campus rhetoric, Groves claimed the university “has faculty that have the range of opinions on every issue.” He cited two figures affiliated with a Qatari-funded center on campus: Emad Shahin, who called Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack “the vision for change we long for,” and Mobashra Tazamal, who reposted, “Israel has been recreating Auschwitz in Gaza for two years.” Groves acknowledged the statements hurt Jewish students, saying he “reject those kinds of statements,” but refused to discipline any faculty under First Amendment protections.
Georgetown also faces questions about transparency after a report revealed it underreported around $146 million in Qatari funds and failed to disclose $102 million in grants to Doha students. Groves said he would “be happy to commit” to transparency, though lawmakers remain skeptical.
“The deepest commitments of Georgetown stem from our Jesuit heritage,” Groves said—but critics argue awarding a Hamas supporter the university’s top honor shows those commitments might no longer include moral clarity.
