One of the things I tell my mentees when they ask me where they should go to school is that they shouldn’t be seduced by the power of a name, especially as undergraduates. Harvard may look fancy on a diploma, but you might get the education you want at UMass, for example. It’s hard to resist the siren song of a big name school, I know, having applied to a few (and attended one) in my time, but it often seems to me like undergrads at these institutions are paying for a name, and that’s kind of a pity. Graduate departments are, of course, another kettle of fish.

In a sense, these schools are selling their names, using well established (and sometimes even deserved reputations) to lure in dollars. With education funding the way it is, can you really blame these institutions for whoring themselves out? Especially in the case of state schools, it’s not like these schools could survive otherwise, on the meager budget reluctantly doled out to them.

And there’s a new twist on the classic theme of selling yourself for money, apparently. Listening to NPR on Friday, I heard a story about a joint proposal between Cal Poly and the Saudi Arabian government to start an engineering school, with Saudi Arabia providing the money, and Cal Poly providing the know-how to get the program going. In return for a hefty “gift,” of course. Because Saudi Arabia is an extremely conservative Muslim country, it should come as no surprise to learn that men and women are typically segregated in school settings; but in this instance, the school will be for men only, and the reaction to the proposal has been quite divided.

To say that the proposal has caused an uproar is perhaps a bit strong, but it has certainly resulted in some fervent discussions, and I am firmly on the side of those opposed.

People who are opposed (including much of Cal Poly’s engineering faculty, the IEEE, and the SAE, among numerous others), argue that it is ludicrous for Cal Poly, an institution known for advancing the cause of women in the sciences, to assist with the establishment of an engineering program in a country which will not allow women to study engineering. Essentially, the school has gone too far in whoring itself, in their opinion, and rather than advancing the cause of the institution, this shames it. Cal Poly is famous for providing opportunities to women, and to advancing the idea that men and women are equal; to become involved in a program which is closed to women in a country which is notoriously abusive to women is simply not a good public relations move.

Proponents say, of course, that women might be allowed into the program someday, and meanwhile the school can help influence Saudi Arabian society. But, argue opponents, Cal Poly receives funding from the State of California, and surely it should benefit Californians (and remain aligned with California values). Furthermore, it is patently foolish to suggest that a single American university can influence Saudi Arabia’s entrenched political, cultural, and social values by condoning them with an engineering school for men only. If young men in Saudi Arabia want to study engineering, they can do it just as easily in the United States, if the nation lacks a good engineering program, but I see no reason for Cal Poly to sully itself with a blatantly sexist program in Saudi Arabia.

There is also, of course, the question of what would be involved in an engineering curriculum which conforms with conservative Muslim values. And in whether or not the school compromises its integrity and ability to speak by accepting millions of dollars from the Saudi Arabian government, which has chosen to interpret the words of the Holy Qu’ran in a rather startling way. Women are revered and honored in Muslim tradition, and I suspect that Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) would be dismayed by the treatment of women in conservative Muslim nations in the Middle East.

It’s unfortunate that American education is so poorly valued that respected universities are forced to go to the Middle East for handouts, when, not that long ago, American schools were divesting from South Africa to protest apartheid. I think we’ve gone a long way backwards, as a society, when it’s viewed as morally imperative to speak out against racism at one moment, and perfectly acceptable to pander to sexist regimes for money at the next.

Shame on Cal Poly, the University of California Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, the University of Texas, and numerous other institutions which should know better. To compromise your values for money is to say that you should no longer be valued.