The students at the University of Michigan have, once again, rejected a motion to divest from companies working with the Israeli military. This rejection follows closely a rejection of BS by students at Northeastern University two weeks ago and a series of votes against BS by several southern universities last month.
Students at the University of Michigan tabled, and then rejected, a similar motion last year. This year's resolution was far weaker: rather than propose actual divestment, it proposed establishing a committee that would investigate whether divestment was even possible. That committee would have been tasked with exploring whether the university even had investments in companies that work with the Israeli military.
But even this watered-down proposal failed, as the campus newspaper reported:
Speakers against the resolution discussed the perceived lack of consensus on campus on the alleged violations. They also spoke about the issue being a divisive subject on campus. Speakers urged students to focus on dialogue between groups instead.During the Executive Communications portion of the meeting, CSG President Bobby Dishell, a Public Policy senior, as well a CSG Vice President Emily Lustig, an LSA senior, said they were against the resolution. “This resolution in no way embodies or is in concert with the University’s mission statement,” Dishell said.After the vote on the divestment resolution, LSA freshman Ean Seinfeld said he was pleased the resolution did not pass. “I think the committee was created to investigate divestment would place the University in a conflict it does not belong,” Seinfeld said. “It’s easy to say human rights violations have been committed without knowing the root causes of them.”
