Temple U Turns Down IIIT Donation

$1.5-million to be exact.

The IIIT was to donate the money for an Islamic Chair to be held by Mahmoud Ayoub until the Philly-based university learned of the terror connections that organization was accused of having:

But after months of talks, the deal fell apart when trustees and others raised concerns about the donor, the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), a nonprofit research organization that was included in a government probe into funding of suspected terrorists.

"They did not want a chair of Islamic studies funded by a Muslim organization," said Ayoub, a blind, 69-year-old Islamic and interreligious scholar who was to be the first occupant of the chair. "That is really a sad thing, because part of the chair's mandate was to encourage and engage in interfaith dialogue with Jews and Christians and others."

Ayoub and religion department colleagues said negotiations between Temple and IIIT broke down in the fall after trustees and others pressed the school to reject the gift.

"There were allegations from outside groups that we shouldn't be taking the money from this organization," said department chair Rebecca T. Alpert, who was involved in talks with IIIT, an academic organization based in Herndon, Va., that was cofounded by a former Temple professor.

Temple president Ann Weaver Hart declined to be interviewed but issued a statement saying, "After much discussion and consideration, Temple decided to neither accept or reject this generous offer. The university indicated that no decision regarding this matter would be made until post-9/11 federal investigations of the IIIT are complete."

Good for Temple as a mil and a half is some serious money. There's sure to be an outcry from the various Muslim groups but the history of the IIIT is riddled with ties to many suspect groups.

Background on the IIIT can be found at this page that has all of LGF's references to the organization.

More on the IIIT can be found here and here.