According to Agence France Presse, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology has had a controversial moment, two weeks after itsinauguration. King Abdullah fired a hardline cleric from the Council of Senior Ulema for criticizing the University's policy of mixing genders.

Last week, Sheikh Sa'ad al-Shethry was removed from the Council, which dictates religious policy in Saudi Arabia, a week after he decried gender mixing as "evil," and "a great sin" in a television interview.