Activists pressure MSU to change its policies on unionization, Israel investments

The Board of Trustees at Michigan State University (MSU) faced opposition related to faculty unionization and divestment from Israel. 

Advocates from groups related to both causes showed up to condemn school policies they disagree with at a Sept. 6 Board meeting. 

“Our causes are aligned,” said Jesse Estrada White, a member of the Hurriya Coalition, a group made up of a number of anti-Israel student organizations at MSU. “We are both pushing for something from the university and … (the faculty) have supported us.”

Some professors from the Union of Tenure System Faculty have accused the university of deliberately blocking unionization advocates during negotiations. One of the advocates alleged: “Your representatives have wasted so much time, energy, and money on delay tactics. They’ve gone past their self-imposed deadlines, they’ve provided us incomplete and inaccurate information, they appear unserious and disrespectful in our meetings, and they have failed to uphold the values of this university.”

[RELATED: Pro-BDS activists disrupt Michigan State board meeting]

One professor, Jennifer Goett at James Madison College (located on MSU’s campus), alleged that MSU’s refusal to cut off ties with the Jewish state amounts to support for “ethnic cleansing.” 

“This investment aligns MSU with a state that is actively engaged in an illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and a genocide in Gaza,” she claimed. 

Students who attended the meeting wore keffiyehs and held up anti-Israel signs. One student alleged that “[i]t is not antisemitic to hold corporations and even the government of Israel accountable when their actions threaten human life, rights, and futures.”

MSU has refused to divest earlier this year, with a school leader stating: “Divestment would conflict with stewarding the institution’s financial health, would increase investment risks, limit returns and jeopardize the assurance their resources will continue to be available now and for future generations.”

The fall semester has already seen several anti-Israel protests break out at several colleges and universities. 

On Aug. 29, several socialist activists from a self-professed Marxist student group attempted to take over a building at the University of South Florida in order to protest for divestment. 

On Sept. 6, protesters at Harvard University were heard yelling anti-Semitic messages such as “Long live the intifada” and “globalize the intifada.” 

At the University of Pennsylvania, vandals targeted a statue of Benjamin Franklin on campus, throwing red paint at it on Sept. 12 to express support for divestment.  

[RELATED: MSU faculty push for divestment from Israeli-linked companies]

That same day, the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at the University of Oklahoma organized a pro-divestment demonstration one day after the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. 

Some universities, besides MSU, have also refused to divest from Israel, including Chapman University in California. A school leader announced: “We have a fiduciary responsibility to preserve and grow the endowment, which directly supports the mission of the university. It is important that we make financial decisions based on risk and return.” 

Campus Reform has reached out to Michigan State University, the Hurriya Coalition, and the Union of Tenure System Faculty for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.