Colleges and other recipients of major donations from Arab philanthropists are worried that the cash spigot will be shut off in the wake of the scorching controversy over whether a Dubai company should be allowed to run several American ports, according to an article in today’s Wall Street Journal (subscription required). The controversy was resolved on Thursday, when the company agreed to sell its American properties, but the bipartisan backlash in the United States may make the oil-rich philanthropists feel that their gifts are unwanted.

That could hurt the American universities that have benefited from the Arabs’ largess, including institutions that have received generous support to establish outposts in Qatar’s Education City (The Chronicle, April 22, 2005). Harvard and Georgetown Universities have each received $20-million from a Saudi prince, Alwaleed bin Talal, to establish programs in Islamic studies and Muslim-Christian understanding, respectively. Probably not by coincidence, a two-page, full-color advertisement in today’s Washington Post celebrates those gifts.