Rory York | Editor-At-Large | ayork@mail.smcvt.edu
Since the 1960s, demands for divestment has been a popular form of protest amongst college students. During the anti-war movement in the 60s, students protested and called for their colleges to pull funds out of countries and businesses they considered immoral.
In 1986, the U.S. government enacted a divestment policy after 155 colleges removed funds from South Africa over its policy of apartheid.
The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act was signed by the U.S Congress. The act placed economic sanctions on South Africa, as well as offered aid to those living under apartheid.
We have seen a surge in divestment movements, particularly on Ivy League campuses, calling for colleges to divest funds in support of Israel, specifically with respect to the endowment of the colleges.
During the spring semester of 2024, St. Michael’s College had next to no information or support for the divestment movement.
Our library lawn stayed empty of tents, our students (for the most part) stayed silent, and our faculty breathed a sigh of relief as finals ended and students went home for the summer.
The war is still ongoing, and there aren’t any sort of movements or protests on campus.
Why? St. Michael’s College has a history of not coming forward on any issues for fear of being “controversial”.
Not only do I think we should come forward as a school to condemn this genocide, but we should look at our endowment and divest any and all funds that contribute to any sort of weapon-making or military funding.
However, endowments are complex, and divesting doesn’t just mean pulling out funds.
According to Rafael Nam with NPR, endowments can include investments into different types of funds that are oftentimes impossible to untangle due to the nature of the investments.
Nam says many analysts argue that divestment can be ineffective or make the situation worse in the end. Divesting funds leave an opening for another potential investment.
By having a stake in a company, analysts argue that a college or a corporation can have more say and pushback against these issues and add more pressure to bring about change.
Protest can lead to change on the upper levels, as we saw with the protests towards the apartheids in South Africa across the country.
Many students camped out on lawns, missed class and protested together for more than just action: it was the message of solidarity that spread from campus to campus.
Last spring we had a few feeble attempts at St. Michael’s College to show a careful addressing of the problem.
A panel on the war, with two panelists leaning more in support of Israel, and two leaning more in support of Palestine.
No panelist reflected the view of the school in any way, and the point of the panel was to disseminate information, not convince the other side.
Many other clubs, such as Common Ground and the Diversity Coalition, put forward invitations for protests in Burlington and candlelight vigils.
What was lacking was a statement or support from administration. St. Michael’s College tried to be so “unbiased” that it flew under the radar and did not face any pressure to come forward with support for either side.
Even The Defender’s article on the October 7 massacre was not able to cover the deep, tumultuous, and broken history between Israel and Palestine. After the article was published, it faced backlash from Palestinian, Muslim, and MENA (Middle Eastern and North African) students and faculty.
The timeline, although extremely detailed, simply did not contain enough history of Palestinian suffering and was criticized for the “biased” language it used.
Al Jazeera has reported that more than 42,000 people have died in Gaza since the war has started, as of October 2.
Every day headlines fill with more bombings, more killings, more people starving. The images and videos of the awful conditions experienced litter social media and news coverage.
Meanwhile, we have received essentially no plan or promises from our government, and nothing from our school system.
As college students, we are often told that we are the future of society. It is our job to stand behind our opinions and be vocal about the issues we believe in. If we won’t, who will?
I believe that if enough people come forward, policy and progress will be made. If enough people make their voices heard, we can end the genocide, and free Palestine from Israel’s violence.