The headline is correct, terrorist supporters are now making investment decisions for an American college.
“San Francisco State University officials gave final approval Thursday night to a new investment policy that includes a commitment to human rights and limits around companies that profit from weapons manufacturing, capping months of organizing by pro-Palestinian students and faculty.
The revision is effective immediately and covers how the university’s foundation invests its endowment, currently valued at $175 million, which comes exclusively from philanthropic donations and supports scholarships, faculty and campus programming. Going forward, the university will not invest in companies that generate more than 5% of their revenue from weapons manufacturing.
The changes passed on a nearly unanimous vote by the foundation board, with all members voting in favor of the changes except for Dana Corvin, who abstained.
At the same time the campus is losing students and forced to fire up to 1400 staff/professors, because they are no longer needed. Would you send your child to a school run by Hamas? It is obvious this is a dangerous place for Jewish and Christian students.
Notice there are no adults—and Gov. Newsom is silent—his silence shows support for Hamas.
SF State Limits Investments in Weapons Manufacturers After Student Activists’ Push
Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman, KQED, 12/13/24 https://www.kqed.org/news/12017889/sf-state-limits-investments-weapons-manufacturers-after-student-activists-push
San Francisco State University officials gave final approval Thursday night to a new investment policy that includes a commitment to human rights and limits around companies that profit from weapons manufacturing, capping months of organizing by pro-Palestinian students and faculty.
The revision is effective immediately and covers how the university’s foundation invests its endowment, currently valued at $175 million, which comes exclusively from philanthropic donations and supports scholarships, faculty and campus programming. Going forward, the university will not invest in companies that generate more than 5% of their revenue from weapons manufacturing.
The changes passed on a nearly unanimous vote by the foundation board, with all members voting in favor of the changes except for Dana Corvin, who abstained.
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Though the revised policy came about after a wide student protest movement against Israel’s war in Gaza, it does not specifically mention Israel or the conflict.
“ We adopted non-geographically specific and non-conflict-specific language around including human rights in our investment policy statement,” Board President Jeff Jackanicz said after the vote. “There may well be, as some of us have already experienced, a range of opinions of what this means. I would just encourage people to focus on what it is that we actually did, and I thank you for it very much.”
Students for Gaza SFSU, one of the groups supporting the changes, said the new policy was developed by a working group comprising students, faculty and administrators that came together as a result of last spring’s student protest encampment.
“I hope this will move forward the conversations on other CSU campuses and lay the groundwork for students on those campuses to achieve their own divestment goals,” said Travis Montgomery, a student who spoke during public comment.
Omar Zahzah, a professor in the Department of Race and Resistance Studies, said he supported the student-led effort.
“ The bare minimum that universities can be doing is making sure that they have ethical investments policies that prioritize and respect basic principles such as human rights,” Zahzah said.
The changes were first announced in August when SFSU said it had divested from four companies as a result of the working group’s summer meetings.
The foundation sold its stocks and bonds in weapons manufacturers Lockheed Martin and Leonardo, as well as data analysis company and military contractor Palantir.
It also said it had screened out construction equipment maker Caterpillar — whose bulldozers have been armored and, in some cases, weaponized by the Israel Defense Forces — due to a pre-existing policy against fossil fuel investments.
Max Flynt, a fourth-year student at SFSU and a member of the General Union of Palestine Students there, said Thursday’s vote made sure those kinds of investments would never happen again.
“We wanted to make sure that we cemented the wins and that they weren’t just a one-off temporary thing, and that required us to create human rights language as an investment policy because that policy did not exist before,” Flynt said.
A draft of the revised investment policy provided to KQED by a university spokesperson includes the following language:
“As part of including human rights in its investment policy, the Foundation shall not hold any direct investments in companies that primarily engage in or profit from weapons manufacturing and will make best efforts to minimize exposure to such holdings in indirect investments. We additionally strive not to invest in companies that consistently, knowingly, and directly facilitate or enable severe violations of international law and human rights. This commitment includes an annual review and ongoing monitoring of holdings.”
Flynt said the General Union of Palestine Students at SFSU is planning to pressure other universities across California and the country to make similar commitments to human rights and divestment from weapons manufacturers in their investment policies. He said he wished the vote had come sooner.
“ We’re grateful for the win, but there is no victory during an ongoing genocide, and we’d like to emphasize that,” Flynt said
