UM takes action after divestment activists shut down honors ceremony

Amid ongoing calls for the University of Michigan to divest its endowment funds from Israeli companies that led to the disruption of a time-honored ceremony on Sunday for high-achieving students, university officials took action this week as community members continued to push back.

UM proposed a policy to halt school disruptions, hours before the Board of Regents' meeting on Thursday where officials announced the university's stance on its divestment policy, disputed endowment figures cited by activists and called for civility as hundreds of students demonstrated outside.

"While we may vehemently disagree in matters of law and policy, we will strive at all times to maintain collegiality and the honor of her office," said President Santa Ono quoting U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, during his report at the regents meeting. "Let's do the same here at the university."

Ono's comments came as pro-Palestinian students and activists have been lobbying the university to divest from its $17.9 billion endowment any funds from Israeli companies, an effort launched years ago.

But the lobbying has escalated in recent months amid the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza and has included numerous campus protests, including one Sunday that was the first to disrupt a university sanctioned event, the celebration of high-achieving students at the 101th Honors Convention. A handful of the 1,800 honored students silently protested by holding signs while walking across the celebration's stage but it got loud as dozens of protesters stood up and chanted as Ono began speaking, cutting him short before the event was abruptly ended.

On Wednesday, UM sought comment from the Ann Arbor campus community on a draft policy that outlines what happens if someone disrupts university events. It asked for feedback through 11:59 p.m. April 3.

The actions are the latest to address the tensions created on campus by the Israel-Hamas war.

Asher Lopatin, director of community relations at the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor, said during the public comment portion of the meeting that he was at the Honors Convocation with his children who were honored, was disappointed that the day was "ruined" because the university did not adhere to its own policies and called on the university to establish a community advisory community to further the conversation about how Jews are vulnerable and many do not feel safe on campus.

"We want the university, which we love, to be a place where everyone, whatever their religion or political beliefs, feels safe," Lopatin said. "Safe to walk, for everyone from the dorm to their classroom, in peace; be exposed to different ideas, even ones that are challenging but without hate and intimidation. We want all students to be able to speak freely, to protest, to express themselves but not by violating other people's safety or sacred spaces, not by intimidating or threatening people that disagree with them. No one should exploit the right of free speech."

Tina Al-khersan, a UM undergraduate and law school alumna, spoke before Lopatin and said the university is creating a "dangerous campus climate for Palestinian students, allies and activists."

"Instead of addressing anti-Palestinian rhetoric, the university administration is creating it," said Al-khersan, pointing to an email sent out by UM Vice President for Student Life Martino Harmon, singling out one Palestinian student for a post on her private social media account.

The student allegedly wrote about "death or worse" for supporters of Israel, prompting Harmon to send out an email condemning the comment, notifying the campus of stepped up security, out of caution, and denouncing "all calls for violence in the strongest possible terms."

"I am frankly appalled that Mr. Harmon would wield the university's institutional power to threaten and believe one student, who lost 14 family members in Gaza this week," Al-khersan said. "President Ono issued an equally chilling statement. ... Despite overwhelming evidence that Israel is perpetrating war crimes, the university has yet to acknowledge the genocide and address its complicity."

Israel has said it is the target of genocide and it is conducting a defensive war to root out networks of Hamas tunnels in Gaza that lead into Israel.

During the meeting, regents reiterated that they have no plans to divest and said UM's endowment has no direct Israeli investments, only indirect, which are miniscule compared with what student activists have cited.

"We are not moving to make any divestment of any kind from the university endowment," Board of Regents Chair Sarah Hubbard said firmly.

After the meeting, UM student Tarana Sharma said she was not surprised by Hubbard's comments because the university endowment has helped fund the "32,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza."

"We know they do not have a moral compass," said Sharma, who is the social media co-director for Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, a UM Palestinian organization.

She noted that UM eventually divested its holdings in South Africa during the 1980s following a student movement raising awareness about apartheid in the African nation.

"Eventually student movements do succeed," said Sharma. "It is our endowment and it is our university."

UM has listened to the divestment calls, Hubbard said, adding that the primary purpose of the endowment is to generate as much income as possible to support the university's mission.

"Our endowment supports numerous scholarships for needy students and drives groundbreaking research across the university and world," Hubbard said. "Careful stewardship of the endowment is critical to sustaining academic excellence, because the endowment itself provides a perpetual source of income ... which last year supported the critical needs of the university."

She said regents' finance, audit and investment committee has deliberated about its policy regarding divestment.

"We will continue to shield the endowment from political pressures and base our investment decisions on financial factors such as risk and return," Hubbard said.

Activists have said that UM has $6 billion of its money invested in Israel, which is about one-third of the university's endowment. Many are lobbying amid a war that started after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel in October, killing more than 1,130 people and abducting nearly 300 Israelis, including children. In response, Israel has launched an attack on Gaza that has lead to the deaths of more than 30,000 Palestinians, which include children, according to Gazan authorities, who don't make a distinction between military and civilian casualties.

The Palestinian advocacy group Students Allied for Freedom and Equality has argued that the university should "divest from companies that fund and participate in the genocide of the Palestinian people." Israel and Jewish supporters have contended that Israel is defending itself after being attacked and is trying to root out a network of tunnels in Gaza.

Regent Michael Behm said that after hearing numerous requests for divestment, he asked UM's endowment managers and learned that UM has "no direct investment in any Israeli company."

He also disputed what divestment activists say the UM has investment in Israel.

"In actuality, less than 1/10 of 1% of the endowment is invested indirectly in such companies," Behm said.

kkozlowski@detroitnews.com