The university consortia include the Al Akhawayn University of Morocco, the Beijing Foreign Studies University and Peking University of China, the Tecnologico de Monterrey University of Mexico, the University of Ghana and the Macquarie University of Australia.

CNN: 'Scholar Ship' ready to set sail

Nor was it to be solely a research facility. (Stanford has one at Peking University, in Beijing.) Faculty members across the country would share videoconference screens, and students in New York would be able to take online classes based in Palo Alto.

NEWYORKER: Get Rich U.

Zhu Feng, a professor at the School of International Studies of Peking University, tells Global Times that Xinhua's limited coverage of the visit shows that Beijing is "not reacting warmly" to Pyongyang's attempts to engineer a summit between Kim Jong-un and Chinese leaders in Beijing.

BBC: China media: North Korea diplomacy