Activist group vows to fight on, accusing the school of profiting from ‘human rights abuses’
Harvard University has rejected activist student demands to divest from Israel, stating that the proposal would “declare an institutional position” on a divisive issue.
University President Alan Garber wrote that the university would not “use its endowment funds to endorse a contested view on a complex issue” in an email to Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine following a recent meeting with the student group, The Harvard Crimson reported Tuesday.
During the meeting, HOOP proposed a “human rights investment policy statement” and the creation of a task force to review Harvard’s investments, specifically targeting divestment from companies associated with Israel.
Garber stated that the proposal is too political and closely resembles previous demands to divest from Israel, which the school has consistently declined.
“[I]n practice, it does not differ substantially from prior demands: the proposal declares that Israel is engaged in both apartheid and genocide, that its territorial holdings are illegal, and that Harvard Management Company should undertake a process to reduce its investment exposure accordingly,” the president wrote.
He also told the students that the school’s “investment strategy is designed to support the academic mission, not to serve as a direct instrument of social or political change.”
Garber stated that Harvard aims to foster open debate, and divesting from Israel would “declare an institutional position” and undermine the school’s “fundamental goal.”
In an emailed response, the divestment group accused Garber of endorsing “a deeply political and irresponsible view: that Harvard will continue to make money off of human rights abuses.”
It further condemned the president’s decision in an Instagram post Monday, writing, “Garber’s definition of human rights stops at Palestine.”
“His unwillingness to engage confirms he welcomes profits from any human rights abuses Harvard is complicit in,” the group wrote.
“Divestment is inevitable as the movement for Palestinian liberation grows,” the group also said.
“While Israel launches terrorist attacks on Lebanon, bombards Yemen and Syria, and burns people alive in Northern Gaza, our calls must grow LOUDER,” it said.
Last spring, HOOP agreed to end its 20-day campus encampment in exchange for a meeting with President Garber to discuss implementing a “human rights investment policy,” the Crimson reported.
The group suggested that the school vow “not to invest in companies that ‘directly facilitate or enable severe violations of human rights, which might include, but are not limited to, acts of apartheid, illegal occupation, and genocide.'”
Harvard is not the only university to reject student demands for divestment from Israel.
Last month, Wesleyan University’s board of trustees rejected a plan written by students to divest from companies tied to the Israel-Hamas war, The College Fix previously reported.
The University of Virginia also announced in September that it will not sever financial ties with Israel, despite a student and faculty-led divestment campaign that began last fall.
Similarly, University of Pennsylvania President Larry Jameson announced in July that the school will not divest from Israel following a student referendum.
MORE: Anti-Israel Harvard students condemn new vice president
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