Over the past week, pro-Palestinian student groups at Columbia University have demanded that the school withdraw investment funds from companies they accuse of profiting from Israel’s military actions in Gaza. The university’s endowment is managed by a university-owned investment firm and is worth $13.6 billion. The request from Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a coalition of student groups, includes divesting endowment funds from weapons manufacturers and tech companies that do business with Israel’s government, which they describe as profiting from “Israeli apartheid, genocide, and military occupation of Palestine.”
Columbia University has a history of student activism including the famous 1968 student occupation of multiple campus buildings and hunger strikes over various issues. In 2000, an advisory committee on socially responsible investing was established at the university to provide feedback to endowment investment managers. Columbia University Apartheid Divest submitted a formal proposal to the committee in December related to divesting investments in Israel, which has not been successful so far. Despite this, students at Columbia College voted to support the divestment proposal, and they continue to push for the university to adopt it.
Columbia University has a history of divestment movements dating back to the 1980s when students called for the school to cut financial ties with companies doing business in South Africa due to apartheid. In 1983, the student Senate approved divestment but the university trustees rejected the move. In 1985, after a student demonstration, the trustees voted to sell Columbia’s stock in American companies doing business in South Africa, totaling $39 million in stock. Columbia was the first Ivy League university to divest from South Africa, and other colleges followed suit.
Since the South Africa divestment, student activists have successfully pushed Columbia to divest from private prison companies in 2015 and fossil fuels in 2019. Despite pushback from university leaders, student activism campaigns have led to formal divestment proposals being presented to the socially responsible investing committee. These efforts have shown the power of symbols like divestment in inspiring change not only at Columbia but also at other universities. In 2021, Columbia’s Board of Trustees approved a fossil fuel divestment policy, committing not to invest in companies whose primary business is the exploration and production of fossil fuels. This move was followed by similar commitments at other Ivy League universities.
Overall, student activism at Columbia University has a long history of pushing for divestment from companies involved in unethical practices. Despite initial resistance from university leaders, these movements have been successful in bringing about change and influencing other institutions. In the case of divesting from fossil fuels, student advocacy led to Columbia’s Board of Trustees approving a policy that has also been adopted by other Ivy League universities. The power of symbols like divestment has proven to inspire meaningful change within the university community and beyond.
