In the spring of 2024, protests calling for divestment broke out across the country.
Lewis and Clark College has divested from all weapons manufacturers, making it one of the few higher education institutions in the country to do so, Oregon Public Broadcasting reports.
The new policy, approved by the private college’s board of directors in mid-October, also requires the institution to publicly release a list of companies in which it invests at least once a year. The policy makes no mention of the war between Israel and Hamas, which sparked the demand for such divestment in the first place.
For nearly two years, students at Lewis & Clark College have been calling on university leaders to withdraw any investment in weapons manufacturers or Israeli companies. But Paula Hayes, chairwoman of the college’s board of trustees, said in a statement that the change was not related to “any specific geopolitical situation or conflict.”
“These considerations are inherently fluid, evolving and divisive, contrary to the commonly held view that endowments should not be used to advocate specific positions on world affairs,” she said.
Students, on the other hand, said the decision was a direct response to their demands.
“This is functional defunding of genocide. The administration may try to depoliticize, but this is a political act,” Lewis & Clark College student Sam Peake told OPB at an Oct. 22 rally celebrating the trustees’ decision. “This is a victory for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement and solidarity with Palestine.”
Many student groups across the country have made similar demands to administrators, but few have been successful. Institutions that have been divested include the University of San Francisco and San Francisco State University. Other universities, including the University of Oregon, Oregon State University and Portland State University, have also considered such action but have not yet implemented it.
