CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Members of UNC Charlotte's Student Government Association are calling for the university to divest its investments in Israel amid the ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
The resolution, drafted recently by five members of the student senate, says the university has a license to dig within the city of Jerusalem that requires funding sent to Israel. The student senate members who created the resolution says this means UNC Charlotte has "continued to financially support the State of Israel’s genocidal regime and thus enabled its capacity to commit genocide within the region of Gaza".
The student senate members are calling on the university to completely divest funds and investments from Israel until a ceasefire is arranged, along with the assurance of measures "to hold the State of Israel and other party actors accountable" for the ongoing conflict.
As of Tuesday, April 3, the student body vice president has not signed the resolution.
UNC Charlotte leaders said in a statement that the resolution by the Student Government Association is not a reflection of the university's views, and that the students involved do have a freedom of expression and to engage in civil discourse. The full statement from the university follows:
Student Government Association leadership has been counseled several times on the University’s commitment to maintain institutional neutrality and encouraged to consider that in their requests of administrators. This SGA resolution does not align with that commitment and will not be acted upon by the administration.
SGA plays an important role in the life of the University, and the University supports the rights of its students, individually and collectively, to freely express themselves. In doing so, however, they neither speak for nor represent the position of UNC Charlotte.
UNC Charlotte embraces different perspectives and promotes civil discourse, including and especially around difficult issues. The University is committed to fostering those conversations in a manner that affords respect, fairness, and dignity to every member of the campus community, and will immediately address any actions that compromise its ability to provide a safe environment to learn, live, and work.
Some UNC Charlotte students say they agree with the university's stance to stay neutral while others say staying neutral does more harm.
“While it’s important for students to explore the controversy and form their own ideas, I think the school should remain neutral to not ostracize the students who feel differently and make them feel welcome at the school," explained UNC student, Tilman Cridlebaugh.
“It perpetuates complacency and being okay with what’s going on and pretending like it’s not happening," said Yasser Ayesh, another student at the university.