Anti-Israel divestment referendums fall short at Rice
Students at Rice University have voted against several divestment measures.
The Rice SJP chapter took to Instagram following the vote, calling on the university to still consider the failed divestment items.
Students at Rice University have voted against several divestment measures.
The Rice Thresher has reported that while students did vote to pass a referendum for “increased transparency” on the university’s investments, three other divestment proposals were denied on Wednesday.
[RELATED: Yale undergrads easily pass three anti-Israel referendums]
The three divestment measures collectively would have requested that Rice divest from military contractors aiding Israel, condemn the “genocide” in Gaza that is “perpetrated by the U.S.-Israel colonial war machine,” and commit to “anti-colonial scholarship.”
The anti-Israel measures did each receive a majority of the student vote, but failed to achieve the necessary two-thirds majority, according to The Rice Thresher.
The outlet has also reported that nearly 1,900 voted, which translated into a 39.7 percent voter turnout.
Previously, one Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) activist spoke in favor of the divestment proposals before the school’s student government.
“Students at Rice and across the country have learned from leading scholars that colonial systems continue to oppress people worldwide, and they seek a move towards a more just and peaceful future,” Mattie Haacke said in November. “I urge you to honor the integrity of this impulse and use your own position not to silence and suppress the movement, but to give each student at Rice the opportunity to make themselves heard, even as the administrators have failed them.”
The Rice SJP chapter took to Instagram following the vote, calling on the university to still consider the failed divestment items.
”SJP is proud to announce that Rice’s undergraduate student body has voted by a strong majority to express solidarity with the Palestinian people and the global struggle against colonial warfare and genocide,” the group writes. “This decisive outcome highlights the democratic support among students for disentangling the university from systems that perpetuate violence, colonialism, and oppression.”
”While this vote marks a significant milestone, it is only one step in a broader movement,” the chapter continues. “We must continue to build collective power and solidarity for Palestine, Sudan, the Congo, and all others victimized by colonialism.”