The Associated Students of Madison passed a resolution 15-5-3 calling on the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents to divest from controversial companies in an emergency meeting Wednesday night to both loud cheers and heavy criticism from the university, who called the legislation disappointing and said it “issued a number of flawed, unrelated and illegal demands” in a statement.
“Wisconsin state law prohibits state and local government agencies from adopting their own rules or policies that would involve them in a boycott of Israel,” the statement reads. “Despite the fact that ASM leadership was counseled by university attorneys on the clear illegality of that specific part of the resolution, ASM Student Council nonetheless voted to pass it… While we recognize the variety of viewpoints in our community about investment policy and disclosure, resolutions that call for actions that would violate the law do not warrant further engagement.”
Student government representatives have a different interpretation of the resolution, though, saying it doesn’t constitute a boycott of Israel.
The meeting followed last week’s Student Council meeting, where more than 45 students spoke both for and against the resolution for over two hours. The Council’s debate was cut short at the meeting’s prescribed 10 p.m. closure due to the Student Activity Center closing.
After three hours of debate and multiple minor amendments Wednesday, the resolution, which calls for the UW System to disclose and divest from “all investments complicit in apartheid and genocide, including Israel’s genocide of Gaza and military operations of the RSF,” passed largely unchanged.
During that time, around 30 Jewish students in opposition to the resolution staged a walkout during open forum, leaving the floor open to over 35 other students in favor of the bill to speak for the next two hours.
“The bill proposed will hurt Jews and Israelis of all identities on this campus,” Sophomore Ariav Hayempour said before the walkout. “Real challenges deserve real solutions, and resolutions like this are a distraction or worse.”
Other speakers argued for divestment from Israel, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and companies profiting off of climate change, highlighting the moral obligation of students and ASM to support the resolution.
“Some have argued this bill will have no tangible worldly impact and only serve as harmful rhetoric to Jewish students, but the fact is money is not immaterial,” UW-Madison student Christine Negovani said. “We need not wield weaponry in a warzone ourselves, our funding is a crime. This is not a vote on the legality of the resolution, this is not a vote to enact [divestment] itself, it’s a call to get it in motion, to start something.”
Battling statutes
At last Wednesday’s ASM meeting, Dean of Students Christina Olstad voiced concerns from UW-Madison’s legal department that the resolution would be illegal under Wisconsin Statute 20.931, which prohibits any state or local agency from boycotting Israel.
After hearing concerns, leaders who supported the bill said they sought independent legal counsel which came to the conclusion that the resolution would not be illegal under this statute.
“Boycotts are only prohibited if they are intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on or limit commercial relations with Israel or a territory under Israeli jurisdiction," the statement from Madison-based Community Law S.C. reads. “Refusing to deal with or terminating business relations with any nations, organization, business, or person practicing or condoning through its actions discrimination on the basis of race, religion, color, creed or sex is at times lawfully mandated and at all times lawful.”
Proponents of the legislation also pointed to another law — Wisconsin Statute 36.29(1) — which currently forbids the UW System from investing in companies that promote discrimination as a basis for their legislation. Supporters of the resolution argued that not adopting it would constitute a violation of Wisconsin state law through allowing the discrimination of groups worldwide.
A similar divestment resolution using the law was passed in 1978 to divest the System from South African apartheid and in 2006 to divest from genocide in Sudan.
ASM representatives who opposed the bill in its original format tried to introduce a sweeping amendment that would have stripped the resolution of all mentions of state actors, companies and past precedents, but the amendment was dismissed by ASM chair Landis Varughese for “effectively cutting out a majority" of the bill’s preamble.
In a statement to The Daily Cardinal, ASM representative Amitabha Shatdal, who helped introduce the amendment, said that without their changes, the bill was “not only likely to be illegal, but demagogic” and said ASM supporters and the chair were “unwilling to read, let alone have a discussion” on the amendment.
UW-Madison, other orgs, weigh in
In September 2024, UW-Madison adopted a policy limiting institutional statements and position-taking from the university on areas of public interest unless the topic “directly affects UW-Madison’s ability to fulfill its core functions of teaching, researching and public service” or “meaningfully disrupts or otherwise significantly impacts campus operations.”
Despite this, the university decried the resolution in their statement, though largely from a legal standpoint rather than an ideological one.
And, while the policy allows ASM to publish their own statements free from limitations, it notes that ASM and other groups must be “clear that they are speaking on behalf of their shared governance groups and not on behalf of the institution.”
Roman Fritz, lead author of the bill called the university’s response “extraordinarily dishonest and frankly embarrassing,” in a statement.
Fritz said that the university’s framing of the resolution as a boycott is “absurd,” and reiterated that he does not view the bill as a boycott.
“It's laughable that the university thinks they can blatantly ignore and insult the demands of the student body. It won't work,” Fritz said. “The clock is ticking on the UW System's investments in genocide and discrimination. Administration is on notice.”
YDSA co-chairs Lochlan Cook and Cameron Pajot released a similar statement, saying they were “proud” of the resolution’s passing but acknowledged a “longer journey” ahead.
“We also know that others, such as the University, may not be as excited about this legislation. The university has a vested interest in maintaining these investments,” their statement to The Daily Cardinal said. “As YDSA, we condemn all forms of discrimination, including antisemitism. That being said, neither we nor YDSA believe this university earnestly cares about discrimination.”
In a statement, UW Hillel thanked the university for their condemnation of the resolution and celebrated the Jewish students involved in the walkout.
“After delivering their message, Jewish students staged a walk-out, not simply as protest, but as a refusal to legitimize the antisemitic bill and the hateful language of ASM’s representatives,” Hillel wrote in an Instagram post. “We are proud of the Jewish students for their courage and leadership.”
