The College Fix

Student association broke ‘every single rule’ related to its procedure, senator says

After sidestepping standard procedures, Georgetown University’s student government is putting forth a referendum to divest from companies tied to Israel. The campuswide vote is set to occur during the Jewish Passover next week.

The student government representatives voted to break their own rules “to advance the referendum without the approval of the senate’s Policy and Advocacy Committee (PAC), which determines whether to send legislation before the full senate,” The Hoya student newspaper reported.

Sixteen out of 28 Georgetown University Student Association members broke typical protocols and voted “without public attribution” to support the resolution, allowing students to vote on the divestment issue from April 14 to 16, the newspaper reported. The vote will coincide with Passover, which runs from April 12 to April 20, and with the week of Easter.

Rabbi Menachem Shemtov, who leads a Jewish group at Georgetown, criticized the timing.

“[S]cheduling the vote on a Jewish holiday is not only insensitive from the start, but sets a troubling tone that only descends from there. Many Jewish students are out of town and observing the holiday at the time of the vote, effectively excluding them from the process,” he told Jewish Insider.

To pass the proposal, at least 25 percent of the student body must participate in the vote, and a simple majority of those voting must support it.

The resolution states the school “has repeatedly acknowledged that its investments are objects of moral concern.”

“Building on these precedents, and in the spirit of continuing and deepening Georgetown’s legacy of moral leadership, we as students insist that Georgetown disclose its private investments in the interest of transparency and, thereafter, divest from companies involved in gross violations of human rights in the drive towards a more just future,” it states.

It asks voters to “support Georgetown University … upholding its Socially Responsible Investment Policy, through divesting from companies arming Israel and ending university partnerships with Israeli institutions.”

The university’s investment policy states the school is committed to “social justice, protection of human life and dignity, stewardship for the planet and promotion of the common good.”

However, not all GUSA members supported the rushed process. Senator Saahil Rao voted against the measure as “it should’ve gone through the process of PAC.”

“There’s obviously a lot of controversial language within this referendum, and I thought we should have debated as a senate on how to present this issue to the student body in the most objective way possible,” he told The Hoya.

Similarly, Senator John DiPierri said the student government broke “every single rule” related to its procedure.

​​“It was not introduced at a PAC meeting. It was not given the sufficient amount of time between introduction and referendum. It was done very poorly,” he said.

But GUSA President Ethan Henshaw defended the decision, telling the school newspaper that the referendum was organized in response to a “large portion” of students eagerly wanting to vote on the issue.

“[W]e felt it was important to give them the option, even if it meant passing it when the senate did,” Henshaw stated.

“Many of those in the senate were open to passing it and allowing students to make their voices heard on the issue, even if they may not be voting yes themselves, and I appreciate that,” he stated.

MORE: UMich refuses to divest from Israel

IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Healy Hall on Georgetown campus; Anthony Blotkin/Shutterstock

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