Michigan State Students Force University Administrators to Meet to Divest Investment Demand – People’s World

FLINT, Mich.—Michigan State University students have won a victory in their fight for divestment, but the war continues. Bowing to pressure, MSU President Kevin M. Guskiewicz and the Board of Trustees have agreed to meet with the Hurriya Coalition, a key driver of the campus ceasefire movement, to discuss divestment from all financial ties to the State of Israel.

On Friday, June 28, the Board of Trustees, a statewide group elected to represent the university, held its summer board meeting in Flint. There, the Hurriya Coalition, comprised of more than 20 student organizations, including the Young Communist League, shut down the meeting for more than 30 minutes to demand that MSU disclose and withdraw its funding for Israel’s war in Gaza.

The official agenda was a series of controversial votes on raising tuition and limiting public comment at future board meetings. Budget and Finance Committee Chairwoman Sandy Pierce also presented a report on MSU’s investment portfolio. In the report, she stated, “The board is pleased with the portfolio and it is consistent with our policies.”

Pierce said the board stands by its April statement opposing the sale and that it is not considering the future of the matter because it wants to keep the portfolio free from “political interference.” It was during her report that Hurriya Coalition members and supporters began chanting while holding signs and banners.

The chanted texts included quotes from the board’s policy that the board must manage its portfolio with “social awareness” in mind and “MSU, your hands are red, forty thousand people have died.”

The disruption forced trustees and President Guskiewicz to adjourn the meeting. They left the room, hoping to escape the protesters, but the students followed them into the hallway outside the new conference room, where they could still apparently hear them. That forced Guskiewicz and trustees Dan Kelly and Pierce to come out and negotiate with the students.

To end the confusion, Pierce agreed to meet with students before the end of July, along with Guskiewicz and MSU’s finance director. They also agreed to allow all public commenters to make statements.

After the resignation, the meeting continued, and members heard from faculty, staff, and students supporting divestment. The board also heard public comments from survivors of the Gaza genocide, which were translated by a Hurriya Coalition leader. That testimony convinced at least one other trustee, Brianna Scott, to attend a future meeting with student leaders.

“We see any concessions from the university administration as progress in our divestment campaign,” said one Hurriya organizer. “But we are not fighting for meetings; we are fighting for divestment, and we will not rest until we achieve it.”

MSU currently invests more than $500 million in companies, stocks and funds linked to Israel and directly in the Netanyahu government itself through its Israeli bonds. Its portfolio also invests more than $3 million in weapons manufacturers including Boeing, Northrup Grumman and Lockheed Martin.

Students, faculty, and community members have been campaigning for divestment from Israel starting October 2023 and have pledged to continue their efforts until complete divestment is achieved.

“This is a major step forward in the fight for divestment, but it is not over,” the coalition said in a statement after the board meeting. Hurriya said the victory came only after a grassroots movement and tremendous pressure from students. “Now is the time to increase that pressure and keep the momentum going into the fall. We call on the entire campus community to join us.”