Sure to outdo my own NYU in Prague adventures, I found myself envious of the first batch of Tisch Abu Dhabies when I opened today’s alumni letter:

“Martin Lipton, Chair of NYU’s Board of Trustees; John Sexton, President of NYU; and His Excellency Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, today announced that they have reached an agreement to create “NYU Abu Dhabi,” a Middle Eastern campus of NYU. This will be the first comprehensive liberal arts campus established abroad by a major U.S. research university. It is projected that a first class of students will enroll in 2010. NYU Abu Dhabi will be a residential research university built with academic quality and practices consistent with the prevailing standards at NYU’s Washington Square campus….”

You can read more about the purple flag’s new territory here.