Yale Drops Plans for Abu Dhabi

NEW HAVEN, Conn.—Yale University has abandoned its plan to open an arts institute in Abu Dhabi, the New York Times reports. The university had been in talks with the city for over a year about creating an arts institute on Saadiyat Island, which is being turned into a cultural center, complete with branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums and other cultural institutions. The point of contention was degree programs, with Abu Dhabi insisting the school offer them at the institute, and Yale refusing. "From the beginning, we were clear that degree programs were not what we were talking about," said Linda K. Lorimer, Yale's secretary and vice president. The exclusive university does not offer degrees at any of its dozens of overseas programs.