Chapman University refuses to divest from Israel, despite activist pressure
‘It is important that we make financial decisions based on risk and return,’ a Chapman leader said.
The divestment vote occurred after lobbying by the school’s anti-Israel activists.
Chapman University in California voted not to divest from its connections to Israel, despite being urged to do so by anti-Israel protesters.
The school’s Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees voted on the issue on Tuesday after school leaders “met and engaged with students several times in the spirit of collaboration and learning,” Chapman News announced.
“The Investment Committee has declined to divest from its investments,” Chapman News continued. “Trustee Jim Burra, who chairs the committee, noted: ‘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.’”
The school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) encouraged followers to show solidarity before the vote.
“SJP will be presenting our divestment proposal to the Board of Investors in a closed meeting,” the group posted to Instagram on Monday. “SHOW UP IN KEFFIYEHS! We will sit-in outside [Argyros Forum] by the Albert Schweitzer statue at 11am in support of our peers.”
Chapman SJP helped to organize a disruptive anti-Israel encampment at the university’s campus during the spring semester. The university administration agreed not to pursue any disciplinary measures against the demonstrators, who successfully lobbied to have the school consider divesting from Israel.
Following the encampment, however, Chapman changed its policy to prohibit “[c]amping or sleeping outdoors or in vehicles with or without bedding, hammock or similar devices, shelters, or other equipment” as well as “[e]recting tents, makeshift shelters, or any other temporary structure.”
“We fully support protests and demonstrations, and we encourage civil discourse,” said Chapman President Daniele C. Struppa in a statement announcing the policy change. “However, we must also ensure the health and safety of our community and the good condition of our campus.”
Chapman’s chapter of SJP wrote an op-ed in the school’s student newspaper, The Panther, in which it condemned the school for supposedly limiting “our freedom of speech by banning encampments” and laid out the divestment demands it was planning to present to the school on Sept. 10.
[RELATED: Pro-Hamas students renew calls for ‘the Intifada’ against Israel at Harvard]
“Divestment might seem radical to some, but it is a deeply pertinent issue to many and holds an important place in a multitude of justice movements,” the student group alleged.
Though the Chapman divestment vote failed, others have succeeded.
This August, San Francisco State University (SFSU) decided to divest from several firms that have financial connections to the Jewish state: Palantir Technologies, Lockheed Martin, Leonardo, and Caterpillar.
Campus Reform has contacted Chapman University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
