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Qatar in new �educational adventure�

Northwestern University in Qatar was officially inaugurated yesterday, becoming the sixth prestigious university to join the cluster of world-class higher education institutions hosted by Education City.
Northwestern University was officially inaugurated yesterday as the latest US branch campus to join Qatar Foundation at Education City, with officials declaring the event as marking the beginning of an �extraordinary educational adventure�.The event was attended by Qatar Foundation chairperson HH Sheikha Mozah Nasser al-Misnad, as well as Qatar Foundation�s vice president (Education) Abdulla Ali al-Thani and Northwestern University president Henry Bienen. Members of the Northwestern University board of trustees and a number of representatives from Northwestern University�s Evanston and Qatar campuses were also present.
The university started teaching its current class of students in August 2008, but last night�s event symbolised the official launch of the School of Communication and the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University-Qatar (NUQ).
Dean John Margolis spoke about the success of the current class of students, expressing his gratitude to Qatar Foundation for allowing the �story� of NUQ to be told.
�Our graduates will assume leadership roles in the critically important areas of journalism, other communication and media professions and a variety of additional career options,� he added.
Abdulla al-Thani echoed Margolis� sentiments of hope for the future of the media in Qatar, saying that the establishment of NUQ is an indication of the forward thinking of the Qatari leadership and the future formation of a new �media environment in which citizens are engaged participants�.
Bienen noted: �A campus here expands Northwestern�s global visibility and gives us a presence in a vital region of the world. It also allows a wealth of cross-fertilisation between campuses, broadening the horizons of faculty, staff and students.�

�Such a campus offers the opportunity to make a difference not only in the lives of students, but also in the culture of a region,� he added.
Dean Barbara O�Keefe of the School of Communication and Dean John Lavine of the Medill School of Journalism made presentations documenting the impact that both current students and graduates of Northwestern have made in the worlds of media and communication.
And at regular intervals, the evening featured clips of students at NUQ describing how they had found out about the university, and why they had chosen to study there, with one female student declaring: �I want people to show that a Qatari woman has a lot to say about the world.�