U of M's Board of Regents declines request to divest from companies supporting Israel
MINNEAPOLIS — The University of Minnesota's Board of Regents held a special meeting Tuesday morning where they declined to divest from certain investments related to Israel.
At the top of the regents meeting, the university's president, Rebecca Cunningham, also spoke on protest rules, which she said are not new, but rather a consolidation of existing policies. Cunningham says the university's "first response will be the goal to educate."
Regent Janie Mayeron later confirmed that the board would decline the request to divest in certain investments related to Israel.
"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 said in a statement. "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. After careful consideration of all this input, we believe today's action honors our fiduciary duty and the long-term needs of the University."
Mayeron added that the resolution acknowledges that divestment in the future of certain investments held in the endowment "may be appropriate in rare circumstances." Because of this, the board has directed Cunningham to develop a process for future requests. That process is expected to be brought before the board for review by the end of the academic year.
The regents say the action does not limit the ability of the university's community to "express views of important social, global and political natures" and that the university will "continue to provide a forum for expression and dialogue to occur."
Hundreds of students set up an encampment and protested for days earlier this summer, calling on the university to divest in companies that support Israel in the war in Gaza. The student group that led the protests back in May says it got wind the board will vote on the neutrality agreement in the morning meeting that would declare the university's endowment fund politically neutral. That indeed happened.
Shouts of protest were heard as the board voted and approved the resolution. In a statement on Instagram, the student group said, "You cannot be neutral while investing in warmongering weapons manufacturers and those who profit off genocide."
Students held a news conference shortly after the regents meeting where they expressed their disapproval of the decision.
"(We'll) continue to do a lot of the same disruptive actions that we had over the past year," said organizer 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."
The students had six demands they said needed to be met before they'd end the encampment over the summer. The demands included the board divesting from groups like Honeywell and General Dynamics, as well as Israeli universities. They also wanted more transparency about university investments and a statement in support of Palestinian students and Palestinian rights. They also demanded amnesty for any students arrested during protests.
The students met with Jeff Ettinger, the university's interim president, several times. They also addressed the board earlier this summer and the university met one of the group's key demands in early May when it disclosed the school's publically traded investments.
This is a developing story. Check back on WCCO for more.
