The Board of Trustees rejected the latest calls by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jews for Justice (J4J) to divest from weapons manufacturing at a meeting on Oct. 30, according to a statement posted by the two groups on Instagram on Nov. 16. The groups initially proposed their demands to the Board of Trustees on Sept. 26.
SJP and J4J called upon the College to reduce its portfolio’s exposure to arms manufacturing and sale; advocate for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards; establish socially responsible and ethical standards for the Investment Office; and follow through on commitments to increase transparency around the endowment.
Per the statement, the board rejected the majority of the proposal due to potential financial risks the demands would pose to the College’s endowments.
“They made clear that preventing potential harm to the endowment, no matter how small it may be, was more important to the College than the lives of individuals affected by armed conflict worldwide,” SJP and J4J wrote in their statement.
President Maud S. Mandel declined to comment on SJP and J4J’s statement.
The groups noted that the College had made “some progress” on one of its demands — for the College to increase endowment transparency — citing the launch of the new Investment Office website in October. The website includes information about the College’s investment strategies and approach to investor responsibility standards, though SJP and J4J wrote in their statement that it “fails to provide a better understanding of where College money is invested and whether these investments are held to any ethical standard.”
Last spring, the Board of Trustees agreed to the Sept. 26 meeting with SJP and J4J — as well as a meeting last May — on the condition that the groups dismantle their encampment on Sawyer Quad prior to Commencement. The encampment called on the College to divest entirely from weapons manufacturing supplying Israel, but since then, SJP and J4J have broadened their calls to demand divestment from companies that receive 30 percent or more of their revenue from weapons manufacturing and sale and to create or strengthen ESG standards in its investment portfolio.
“Williams SJP will continue to campaign for investment disclosure and targeted divestment from arms manufacturing,” the groups added in their Instagram statement.
