USG’s senate voted to form a committee to revise a resolution calling for a referendum on divestment in the military industrial complex from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 5.
The proposed referendum contained questions calling for the University of Connecticut to disclose ethical investment policies and divest from Israel’s military actions in Gaza, the military-industrial complex and organizations which commit human rights abuses.
The committee will consist of one representative each from UConn Students for Justice in Palestine, the UConn Muslim Students Association, UConn Jewish Voices for Peace, UConn UNCHAIN, UConn Hillel, UConn Chabad, Huskies for Israel, Jewish on Campus and 10 senators who do not hold a position in any of the organizations.
The motion to form a committee passed by 25-14, and the committee was created after critics said the referendum, titled “An Act Concerning the Passing of the Spring 2025 Referendum to be Released to UConn’s Undergraduate Fee-Paying Student Body,” had editorialized language.
The first three pages of the resolution included a justification for the proposed referendum. It cited genocide accusations by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch along with South Africa’s genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice. Arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes were also cited in the document.
“UConn cannot in good faith keep a relationship with the perpetrators of ‘domination and oppression of Palestinians,’” the document asserted.
UConn student Joel Harris spoke out against the referendum during the public comment period of the meeting.
“The language of this referendum, its accusations and its implications terrify Jewish students,” Harris said. “The call for divestment is to demand that UConn sever ties with a country we love and a country where we have family and a country that provides refuge for Jews around the world.”
Harris claimed that language in the document was editorialized.
“[The arguments in the referendum] are rooted in words that misrepresent reality to provoke outrage, words that stir up emotion instead of fostering understanding,” Harris said. “A legal document should not be weaponized with editorialized accusations. Israel is not perfect, as any Jew will tell you. But a conflict such as this should be addressed through discourse, not hate.”
Student Nathan Henault from Jewish Voices for Peace denied that the resolution targeted Jewish students.
“Contrary to certain disinformation being circulated, this act does not in any way target Jewish students, encourage a boycott of Jewish organizations or endanger Jewish institutions,” Henault said. “Nor does this act conflate Jews with the state of Israel or imply Jews are to blame for its conduct, a disturbing tactic used exclusively by those opposing this act.”
Resolution author Jasmine Maggio read out questions in her proposed referendum and asked senators to vote in favor.
“It is important to remember that the only thing this referendum does is allow student voices to be heard. In effect, it is a glorified poll,” Maggio said. “The student body has already passionately expressed a desire for this referendum. On Monday, there were over 200 students that showed up to vote on this matter in internal affairs, which I believe is an unprecedented number.”
Resolution sponsor and senator Haritha Subramanian said that she understood that language in the resolution could be viewed as very strong. She thanked students for sharing their stories and stated that she was open to amendments.
“I do think it’s imperative that we do have a question towards the student body, because there is a genocide going on in Palestine,” Subramanian said, quoting a death toll of 46,600 from Reuters. “We also can’t just sit here and be complicit in these crimes against humanity and these human rights abuses.”
College of engineering senator Sadaf Zarei, who spent most of her life in Iran, expressed concern over the resolution.
“The discussion we have here tonight in the relative comfort of our university setting will not move the needle in any grand geopolitical sense. Larger, far more powerful institutions have tried and failed,” Zarei said. “Yet here we are, an undergraduate student government, assuming we might do better.”
Zarei cited the community impact of the resolution.
“That is not to say our discussions will be meaningless, actually far from that. While it does not have an impact in the geopolitical sense, it will impact our community heavily,” Zarei said. “The language in the resolution does not seek resolution. It seeks conformity. It does not encourage dialogue. It demands submission. It is not an argument; it is an ultimatum.”
UConn Engineering student Jay Brown said that they wanted their money to go toward benefiting their education.
“I expect that my tuition will go to benefit the school for my sake and the sake of everyone enrolled,” Brown said. “Yet, instead of transparency where this tuition goes, we are met with silence. Instead of investing solely in education and research and the wellbeing of students, the university chooses to conceal its financial ties to industries that perpetuate violence and war.”
This article was updated on Feb. 7 to correct spelling of Henault’s name and UConn Chabad.
Using American weapons, Israeli actually does a lot of good things for the region and humanity such as:
– destruction of Syrian chemical weapons during the fall of the Assad regime in 2024
– destruction of a Iran/hezbollah missile factory built into a mountain near the Lebanon-Syria border
– destruction of a clandestine North Korean nuclear reactor in Syria (see operation orchard). If not for their unilateral action, nuclear materials would have surely been in the hands of ISIS a few years later as they took over that site.
– destruction of the vast terror tunnels in Gaza, which were paid for by western aid stolen by Hamas
– destruction of Iranian weapons smuggled into the Palestinian Territories for use against civilians (see the Karine A ship raid as an example)
Someone should proposed that the USG instead makes a statement supporting efforts against terrorism and violence targeting civilians such as what was perpetrated by Gazans against Israelis (of many faiths and ethnicities- not just Jewish)
If they want to divest from all weapons manufacturers as a matter of principle, and not just Israel- related companies, then that is totally understandable and there are financial funds which already do that.