Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) will renew calls for university divestment from Israel, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and military operations in Venezuela while remaining civil with the university as the organization returns to campus Jan. 15 following a six-month suspension, a member told The Daily Cardinal.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison suspended SJP last July for violating five university policies at an April protest against former U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield who vetoed four Gaza ceasefire resolutions during the Biden administration at the United Nations. The suspension came after the organization was put on disciplinary probation for the 12-day encampment on Library Mall in spring of 2024.
During the suspension, some UW-Madison students involved in SJP created a separate organization, the Palestine Solidarity Committee, to advocate for Palestine, while others contributed through organizations like Young Democratic Socialists of America and Students for a Democratic Society.
SJP member Adam Donahue told the Cardinal SJP will continue to research and publicize UW-Madison’s investments and argue for university disclosure and divestment not only from companies profiting off the war in Gaza but also those supporting ICE raids and assaults against Venezuela.
“There’s a lot of intersections where divestment is located, and that research and political intersectionality is something that we’ve been focusing on a lot and want to amplify in our divestment initiatives moving forward,” Donahue said.
As of May 2024, the UW System Trust Fund was most heavily invested in BlackRock’s ACWI Index, which held over $249 million at the time of a December 2023 report. Like most Exchange-Traded Funds — which are combined investments that can be composed of individual companies’ stocks or other ETFs — BlackRock’s ACWI Index is invested in companies that profit from the war in Gaza, support ICE raids and are connected with the attacks on Venezuela. Companies in the fund include Lockheed Martin, Elbit Systems, Palantir, Boeing and Chevron.
Additionally, Donahue said the organization is focused on ensuring a democratic process for making university investment decisions once divestment and disclosure are achieved.
UW System investment decisions are currently made by the Board of Regents, which Donahue said is a process that “is neither transparent nor at all democratic with respect to the students, staff or faculty.”
UW-Madison’s large $4 billion endowment is managed by the University of Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Associated, a non-profit associated with the university but not subject to open records or public disclosure.
SJP remains on probation until May 15, and until then, Donahue said they will “toe the line” to not raise the probation back into a suspension.
“We don’t want to have waited an entire semester to get off of suspension only to get on it again,” he said.
The organization plans to advance their goals through petitions, efforts to build support for a potential divestment resolution and, chiefly, working to increase public awareness around the argument for divestment.
“It’s an argument that is not difficult to understand, but it’s also not something that a lot of citizens are tuned in to,” Donahue said. “I think a lot of our work will be focused on making that message publicly accessible.”
Despite the need for caution to avoid further conflict with university administration, Donahue said SJP is not discouraged by the suspension.
“We know what the reason was [for it]. It’s because we support Palestine while the university supports Israel both materially and ideologically,” he said. “This is something that many SJPs have faced and come out on the better end of, so we are very excited for this semester and for the things that we are planning.”
