Senate holds hearing regarding divestment

by Heather Valadez

The Earlham Student Senate faced a highly charged discussion last Wednesday as the Social Responsible Investment Advisory Committee (SRIAC) heard testimony about BDS from both advocates and opposition.

Sophomore Silviano Valdez, a member of SRIAC, breached the subject of divestment in order to hear student viewpoints on BDS before they make a proposal at the end of February on whether or not to divest. Because the BDS issue is complex and politically charged, he wanted the input of Earlham Student Government in order to better inform SRIAC. The discussion was not consensus-based, but everyone spoke respectfully and thoughtfully in a calm and mature manner.

The companies that SRIAC is considering divesting from are Caterpillar, Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, and FLIR Systems. According to BDS, these four companies have violated international law in various ways, including supplying Israel with certain products to continue to occupation. The most cited violation was against the fourth Geneva Convention, which can be found on the United Nations website.

The three conveners of BDS Earlham, senior Tory Smith, junior Lilly Lerner and sophomore Hani Al-Safadi took turns answering the various concerns brought up by Senate members. Several other members of BDS Earlham were also present.

“How would Earlham’s divestment affect campus? Would this divestment mean a refusal to use those companies’ products?” sophomore Anton Guz asked. He said they would only discuss divestment of its money, but was unsure if this would affect usage of products.

“This is not a boycott,” Lerner emphasized. “Rather, it is a focus on investments.”

For example, they are not calling for every HP printer to be removed. BDS simply does not want to support any company that enables war crimes. They desire for Earlham to symbolically remove its support to those companies. BDS Earlham has contacted students campus-wide by going door-to-door, attempting to hear student opinions.

The Senators asked for clarification regarding what exactly the compaies are selling to Israel. BDS Earlham gave accounts of Caterpillar selling and armoring bulldozers, Hewlett-Packard selling software for bio-metric scanners, which are used for checkpoints (The scanners are similar to those in the Wellness Center.), Motorola selling cameras for use in perimeter surveillance, and FLIR Systems selling night vision and heat sensory technology to Israel.

Would supporting BDS hinder admission confirmation from potential students? One senator, sophmore Jessica Childs, stated that BDS posters around campus had caused problems for some prospective students.

Another senator, junior Taylor Jeromos, expressed that she would like BDS to bring in an opposing view in order to provide some contrast to BDS Earlham’s views. BDS Earlham welcomed an opposing view, but junior Michael Gottlieb, a member of BDS, added that it was, “not within their interests to play devil’s advocate.”

“Is it right for the school to politicize itself in this way?” some senators wanted to know. Gottlieb answered this by claiming that, “no campus has been apolitical since the 1960s.” He said he specifically came to Earlham because it is focused on social justice.

BDS Earlham said that so far, student responses to the campaign have been mostly positive. However, they are also aware that people are concerned about the impact BDS Earlham has on the Jewish community. As this is a heated issue, they expect some opposition.

Sophomore Ruthie Lewis stated her opposition to BDS Earlham due to their connections to the global BDS movement. “When I read the BDS mission statement, I see them as anti-Israel,” Lewis said. She supports divestment from companies that violate human rights, but she strongly advocates there be no association with BDS.

Sophomore Becky Lang, co-convener of the Jewish Student Union (JSU), stated that she could not give an official position of JSU because there was no consensus. “Every student has a different opinion,” she said.

However, Lang did point out how much the campaign affects the Jewish community. “We are really affected by this. People have threatened to transfer.”

Valdez concluded the discussion by saying, “It’s a difficult position to be in. I’ve heard many sides. Every time I hear someone’s position, I want to side with them. But I care more about the outcome of Earlham.”