Credibility: Sources Cited Data Driven
DePaul’s student body voted Wednesday night in favor of a referendum urging DePaul to disclose its investment portfolio and “divest from companies that directly profit from the suffering of Palestinians.” The referendum received 91% of the votes cast by students who participated in the spring Student Government Association election.
According to SGA election data, 1785 students voted yes, 107 voted no and 78 students declined to answer. A similar referendum vote was held at Columbia University, which received 76.55% votes in favor.
Divestment was one of the main goals of the DePaul encampment, and the protest coalition has remained firm in the demands made to the university despite a CPD teardown of the “liberation zone” on May 16.
“We recognize and appreciate the activism of our students, but the university disagrees with their call to divest from Israel,” Kristin Claes Mathews, DePaul’s senior director of strategic communications, said in an email to The DePaulia.
DePaul Students for Justice in Palestine campaigned for a similar referendum in 2014, though it did not result in any substantive action from the university. That referendum, which passed 10 years ago, only received 54.2% of the student vote. SGA referendums signal the temperature of the student body on an issue. However, it does not have any enforcement power.
Even though the divestment referendum was overwhelmingly supported by those who voted in the SGA elections, “This is by no means the ultimate victory we seek. We remain steadfast in our demands and in urging the University to return to the negotiating table…,” the DePaul divest coalition said in an Instagram post.
Related Stories:
— ‘We plan to stay here’: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators firm in demands for divestment from Israel
— Live Updates: Encampment for divestment continues on DePaul Quad