"We Hope to Be a Model": Students & Faculty at The New School Secure Divestment Vote

Students and faculty at The New School, home to the first faculty Gaza solidarity encampment, have announced they reached a deal with the university to hold a vote on divesting from Israel by June 14. The agreement comes after months of campus protests, encampments and the occupation of a university building to demand The New School divest its endowment from companies arming and supporting Israeli forces in Gaza and the West Bank. The school’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter has said the university currently has ties to several companies that are “actively involved in, and benefiting from, the genocide in Palestine,” including Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Google and Caterpillar. “What this is not is an end to war or famine or occupation, and so we’re keeping our eyes on the bigger picture, which is Palestine,” says Alexandra Chasin, a professor at The New School and member of the faculty encampment negotiating team. “We hope to be a model, or at least to help organizers at other universities, as well.”