‘Anxiety and resilience’ at Qatar’s Education City amid airstrikes

Students are facing the current crisis in the Middle East with “anxiety and resilience” despite many being unable to return home for the Eid holidays and classes disrupted by evacuation orders, according to the head of Qatar’s Education City, which hosts several international universities.

The site – which is home to eight institutions and more than 4,000 students – has been put under shelter-in-place orders, which require individuals to remain indoors during attacks, following the outbreak of conflict between the US, Israel and Iran.

Iran has attempted to target US air bases in neighbouring countries, throwing the region into turmoil. Education City is situated near the Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, which is the largest US military base in the Middle East. There have been no casualties so far in Qatar, and Iranian missiles have mostly been intercepted.

But Francisco Marmolejo, president of higher education at the Qatar Foundation, which oversees Education City, told Times Higher Education that recent events have been “extraordinary” and have forced universities to return to conditions last seen during the Covid pandemic.

Many students and faculty members were still away on spring break when the strikes began and have been unable to return to Education City because of travel restrictions, while students who were on campus have been unable to go home.

On 14 March, students were forced to evacuate their dormitories and stay in hotels following evacuation orders from the government, said Marmolejo. “We were asked to mobilise our students who are living on campus to transition into facilities outside of Education City. There was a total of 282 students who were transferred to hotels and other facilities outside of Education City.”

“There is tension, no question about it. There might be anxiety, but also there is resilience,” he said.

Although students are due to be off next week because of Eid celebrations, which begin this week, Marmolejo said they were currently planning for “another two weeks” of online provision once students return, and then “we’ll see what happens after that”.

One of Education City’s universities, Carnegie Mellon University Qatar, has confirmed that it will remain online-only until at least 9 April. It said it would provide further updates on 2 April to establish whether staff and students will be able to return to in-person teaching.

The university’s dean, Michael Trick, has written to students this week saying that the evacuation order had been a “long and challenging day” and a “stressful” situation for students still in Qatar.

He added: “I wish I could confirm today how the semester will unfold, including assessments and graduation-related events. It is my sincere hope – and that of the entire Crisis Management Team – that our semester will end with everyone back on campus. With the uncertainty the region is facing, we will hold off with that decision until we have a better understanding of how and when this conflict will resolve.”

Georgetown University has told students that “remote work and online instruction will continue until further notice”. Northwestern University’s student newspaper reported that although teaching remains online, the university has organised coaches for students who wish to travel from Doha to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. 

Marmolejo said that the universities had been working “closely” with each other and coordinating policies where possible to help students.

“We were very lucky that we learnt a lot during the Covid times, and so we were able to transition into online learning literally the day after the crisis began.”

Online attendance has remained “relatively high” despite the circumstances. Well-being provision has been upped in recent weeks, with Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar expanding its student support through counsellor check-ins, mental health services and coordination with academic teams.

Marmolejo added that maintaining student morale has been a strategic priority, especially as the conflict has occurred during Ramadan. Deans are organising events for international students unable to return home for Eid to join local Qatari students, to maintain a sense of community even though some people are unable to celebrate Eid with their families.

“We are trying to adapt. Something that I really find very admirable is the resilience of people when circumstances like these are present,” he said. “I truly believe that in difficult times that’s when the best of people also arises.”