Here's what's on the auction block: a Kenan-Flagler Business School diploma bearing the name of UNC-Chapel Hill.
Our only bidder is the Qatar Foundation, a group headed by Her Highness Sheikha Mouz Bint Nasser Al-Misnad, the second of three wives of the ruling emir of Qatar. The foundation approached UNC one year ago with the idea of creating a satellite campus of the business school in the small emirate's capital of Doha.
The bidding begins at an undisclosed price. But Qatar's timing couldn't be more perfect, given that Chancellor James Moeser just launched a $1 billion campaign to fill the University's coffers. Provost Robert Shelton told The News & Observer, "Maybe they can meet our campaign goal with one check."
Going once ...
Cornell University has already received $750 million to run a satellite campus of its medical school in Qatar. Cornell also received an undisclosed amount for managing the program. All of the sudden, UNC administration is gung-ho about Qatar -- while most students can't even pronounce the country's name.
Going twice ...
Qatar wants to modernize. In 1998, the country approached the University of Virginia about creating an undergraduate campus in Qatar. After two years, UVa. declined, citing problems with accreditation.
Going three times ...
That's where we come in. Qatar has offered an undisclosed sum to UNC to develop an undergraduate business program intended for native Qataris. On the bright side, it will include women. This is significant, considering that Qatar lies in the middle of a culture that denies women basic liberties. But in Qatar, the women can actually drive cars.