University of Minnesota rejects anti-Israel divestment proposal after extensive, activists respond by saying 'we don't want to make the regents’ lives comfortable'
The University of Minnesota's Board of Regents rejected a proposal to divest from companies connected to Israel, despite significant student opposition.
The decision followed a months-long review process that included expert analysis and community input.
The University of Minnesota Board of Regents rejected a proposal to divest from companies that have connections to Israel after demands by campus anti-Israel groups.
The decision was announced on Tuesday following a Board of Regents meeting. In a press release, the university announced that a “position of neutrality” will be applied to investments in its Consolidated Endowment Fund.
”After careful consideration of all this input, we believe today’s action honors our fiduciary duty and the long-term needs of the University,” said UMN’s Board of Regents Chair Janie Mayeron.
Mayeron additionally released a statement explaining the months-long ordeal involving, among other things, expert testimony.
“For the past several months, we have sought out expert analysis and a variety of perspectives on how the University invests its Consolidated Endowment Fund,” Mayeron explained. “We have reviewed how this fund operates, how it supports affordable education for students, groundbreaking research, and community engagement, and the possible financial challenges of divestment.”
“We’ve also welcomed input from members of our community, and we respect their deeply held perspectives. In the end, it is clear our community is divided on the topic,” Mayeron added.
The Minnesota Star Tribune reported that the University of Minnesota has two endowments, which are overseen respectively by the University of Minnesota Foundation and UMN’s administration.
The endowments total nearly $6 billion, and their investments return more than $90 million each year for the university.
Anti-Israel students at the university held a news conference after the Board of Regents announced its decision not to divest from companies connected to Israel, saying that they would continue to protest in support of their cause, according to CBS News.
“[We’ll] continue to do a lot of the same disruptive actions that we had over the past year,” said UMN student Faye Hodges. “And I think that, again, we don’t want to make the regents’ lives comfortable and our university functioning as usual while our tuition dollars are being spent on something that over 70% of the student body voted against.”
Campus Reform reported in July about UMN Interim President Jeff Ettinger’s admission that he signed a document that contained a reference to “Hamas’ foundational mission to exterminate Jews in Israel.”
“That was a mistake by our administration. The way things transpired that day, we ended up finalizing that document at 5 a.m.,” Ettinger explained at the time. “Those topics were characterized by the students as their demands. We looked at them as topics, but clearly, I didn’t even know what that word meant.”
Campus Reform has contacted the University of Minnesota for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
