On May 6, our Student Government Association (SGA) released a referendum giving the student body the opportunity to vote on divesting our endowment from any company that is involved in arms, arms manufacturing, war profiteering more generally, or is funding Israel’s current “war” effort in any capacity. Students and the SGA put an immense amount of time and energy into drafting this referendum and making it available as a means for us to make our voices heard. The goal of this piece is to encourage the student body to vote, drawing from your own beliefs and learnings, and to communicate your opinions to the college’s administration and Board of Trustees in a meaningful way. It is absolutely critical that each and every Middlebury student votes by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, May 9. Our intention is not to tell you how to vote. We recognize the myriad of relationships that Middlebury students have with Palestine and Israel. In the spirit of open and free expression, we would like to share why we will be voting “yes” on every divestment request.
We can all recognize the nature of the violence being perpetrated against the people of Palestine and the suffering it brings to civilians on both sides. For the first time in years, college and university students have a global audience. We, as Middlebury students, cannot waste this opportunity to make a strong statement in line with our values. We cannot overstate the potential this referendum has to create institutional change at Middlebury and beyond: Past referendums have been integral in convincing the Board of Trustees to divest the college’s extensive endowment from key economic sectors.
“We not only inspire our undergraduates to grapple with challenging questions about themselves and the world,” states Middlebury’s mission statement, “but we also foster the inquiry, equity, and agency necessary for them to practice ethical citizenship at home and far beyond our Vermont campus.” As students, we have an opportunity and the responsibility to practice ethical citizenship by voting in this referendum. This privilege is not shared by many students at American universities, where any sort of public dialogue surrounding this contentious issue has recently been prevented or restricted. This privilege is not shared by Gazan students, whose entire educational infrastructure has been reduced to rubble.
In a BBC article from this past February, journalists wrote, "In December, [the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)] described an assessment that it was killing two civilians for every Hamas fighter as ‘tremendously positive,’ given the challenges it faced on the battlefield." Regardless of what those alleged challenges were, to describe a civilian-militant casualty rate of 2:1 as "tremendously positive" is unconscionable. That members of the IDF think this way and proudly declare these dehumanizing sentiments publicly is key to understanding the systemic nature and objectives of the ongoing violence. We, as the authors of this piece, are not alone in stating that the actions of the Israeli government go beyond what is acceptable during war.
"In their stated intent to use all means to destroy Hamas,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, “Israeli forces have shown a shocking disregard for civilian lives. They have pulverized street after street of residential buildings killing civilians on a mass scale and destroying essential infrastructure, while new restrictions mean Gaza is fast running out of water, medicine, fuel and electricity…” We believe the best way to push for an end to the unnecessary killing of Palestinians and Israelis alike is by pressuring our institution to guarantee that they will not ever invest in war profiteering, arms, or arms manufacturing.
It takes more than artillery to carry out such extensive and multi-faceted destruction against a people. By voting to support divestment from all Israeli companies, we wish to communicate to the United States and to the state of Israel that Middlebury College will not engage with this economy in any capacity until the Israeli government ends their program of mass destruction against Palestinians.
Students have power. Domestically and globally, people are paying an exceptional amount of attention to American colleges, regardless of whether we deserve it. According to Professor Marsicano at Davidson College, “Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has already mentioned student protests at American universities publicly.” Middlebury’s actions matter, particularly as an elite and wealthy institution, and we have the ability to set precedents for other schools to follow.
As of June 2023, our endowment was $1.47 billion. Money is power and voting in this referendum is imperative to returning a measure of this power to Middlebury students. Currently, the college can invest its $1.47 billion endowment in companies that profit off the violence in Palestine, Israel and the world as a whole at its discretion. Middlebury has admitted to having $600,000 dollars publicly invested in Israeli companies, which indirectly supports their military activity. They may well have much more invested privately, and we will never know unless we vote in this referendum for increased financial transparency. We believe that abstaining from voting or voting against this referendum’s requests expresses a tacit acceptance of our school’s ability to make money off of the deaths of human beings and the decimation of life-supporting institutions. By no means will these divestment measures jeopardize Middlebury’s economic base, which is disproportionately large compared to those of many similarly-sized colleges and universities. From a sterile economic perspective, Israel is also simply a bad investment right now. By voting in this referendum, you can show Middlebury that we all deserve to have a say in how the school funds our lives here.
Past SGA referendums have had tangible effects on the college’s use of the endowment. Although the administration initially rejected students’ push for fossil fuel divestment in 2013, “citing difficulty and material cost of withdrawing from a complex portfolio of investments, and the uncertainties and risks that divestment would create,” student voices would prove instrumental in altering this decision. In 2018, 70% of students turned out for the referendum on fossil fuel divestment, with 80% in favor. As a result, after six years of student action, the Board of Trustees voted to divest in 2019 and introduced the current Energy2028 plan. Energy2028 proves the student body has the power to influence the way in which our $1.47 billion dollar endowment is invested.
We chose to attend this institution because our values align with Middlebury’s mission statement. What does it say about us if we do not take this rare opportunity to interrogate where we truly stand, ask ourselves why we think the way we do, and present our conclusions in an impactful way by voting on this referendum? It is too easy on this campus to become preoccupied with our day-to-day concerns and forget that we are inextricably connected to the broader world and have a responsibility to engage with it. This week’s referendum is your opportunity to recognize that connection and cast an informed vote by Thursday, May 9.
