No, we're not talking about another endorsement deal for the athletic department. We're talking about the pitiful "strategic partnership" concerning "environment and development" with the government of the West African nation of Gabon, one of the most corrupt in the world. It's moving right along:

Through the UO’s Global Oregon Initiative, UO faculty and Gabonese researchers will team up to study common challenges – in Gabon, in Oregon, and in other places - looking to balance sustainability, human well-being and environmental conservation.

"The UO-Gabon partnership is very exciting to me, as an environmental scientist, an educator and a sustainability scholar," says Brendan Bohannon, a professor of biology, director of the Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and chair of the UO Sustainability Council. "We are already leaders in sustainability research and practice, but the UO-Gabon center will provide us with new possibilities for international leadership."

And to think Mercy Corps is taking heat for sending food to North Korea. This deal is a worse disgrace, and it sends a terrible message to the Oregon students -- one of many they regularly receive from the suits running the university. [Via UO Matters.]