Saudi Arabia recently mourned the death of their 90-year-old leader, King Abdullah, who died Jan. 23 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His half brother Salman, former governor of Riyadh, has taken Abdullah’s place as king. President Obama met with King Salman on Tuesday, Jan. 27, to discuss the new regime.
Hailed as a “cautious reformer” by The New York Times, King Abdullah did make some change for Saudi Arabia. According to The New York Times, Abdullah “allowed women to work as supermarket cashiers and appointed a woman as a deputy minister. At the $12.5 billion research university he built and named for himself, women study beside men.” Abdullah also created a scholarship program that “sent tens of thousands of young Saudi men and women abroad to study at Western universities and colleges.” It is under this program that students from Saudi Arabia come to study here at UT Martin.
According to Amy Fenning, director of international programs, there are currently 109 students from Saudi Arabia in the degree program at UTM, and there are 66 in the English program- completion of this English program is required before students can begin taking official classes at UTM.
The University began receiving students in 2005 with King Abdullah’s scholarship program, which has since been renewed by President Obama.
In lieu of King Abdullah’s death, Fenning canceled classes from noon onward on Friday for the students in the English program and gave excused absences to those in the degree programs. She said most of the students showed up to their classes anyway, although they did have a memorial service for the deceased king later that day.
When Ali Mohammad AlQallaf, president of UTM’s Saudi Student Organization, heard the news of King Abdullah’s death, he didn’t at first believe it. “I wanted someone to tell me it was not true,” he said. “He was more than a king. He was a father to all Saudi students.”
Upon getting confirmation that the king was dead, AlQallaf decided to bring the Saudi students together for a memorial service. AlQallaf secured a room at the UC, where about 40 students showed up. The majority of the others went to a small worship center the Saudis have constructed in the Grove Apartments, where many of them live.
Shortly after the king’s death, AlQallaf received a text message from a friend with the title “Why Saudis cried about King Abdullah’s death.” The reasons listed included the fact Abdullah added many universities to Saudi Arabia, opened thousands of schools for younger children, and invested heavily in hospitals. AlQallaf also mentioned that King Abdullah made good relations with the United States, which he was happy about. It is thanks to Abdullah that AlQallaf is able to study at UT Martin.
Abdullah became king of Saudi Arabia when there was much discord and strife between the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam. According to AlQallaf, when Abdullah became king, he “said there was no difference between Sunni and Shiite- we are all Muslims.”
Although there is still unrest between the two branches, AlQallaf said it was worse before Abdullah became king.
One thing AlQallaf said he thinks Abdullah should have finished was his plan to enable the women of Saudi Arabia to drive. According to AlQallaf, “he was talking about allowing women to drive, but nothing ever happened with that.”
After the king’s death, AlQallaf mentioned that many Saudi students changed their profile pictures on Facebook to one of King Abdullah with the caption, “He was not just a king, he was a father to us.”
