The Student Senate voted unanimously to send a referendum bringing the issues of Ohio University's divestment and disclosure to a student vote. The student body has the opportunity to vote on both issues through a form in their emails Tuesday.
The two issues at hand, according to the Students for Justice in Palestine Instagram account, are “for Ohio University to make public all investments on their website” and “for Ohio University to stop all investments which go directly to the state of Israel.”
The bill was written by SJP alongside student senators and endorsed by eight other student and community organizations: OU Amnesty, OU Ohio Student Association, OU Black Panther Legacy Party, OU Sunrise, OU Young Democratic Socialists of America, OU Publius, Southeast Ohio Jewish Voice for Peace and OU Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine.
The announcement for Tuesday’s student-wide vote was posted to the SJP Instagram. Henry Turner, a junior studying history and creative writing, is a board member of SJP and said this is not the first time organizations have tried to get eyes on these issues.
“The Athens Justice Coalition … proposed a divestment referendum that not only included Israel bonds, but also companies directly profiting off of the genocide and acts of apartheid,” Turner said. “It’s been well over a year that OU students called for ethical investments. In 2014, the president of Student Senate demanded the university divest from Israel as well as Israeli bonds.”
Turner also highlighted OU’s history of not supporting apartheid, a policy that “governed relations between South Africa’s white minority and nonwhite majority for much of the latter half of the 20th century,” according to Britannica.
“In 1978, Ohio University became the second public American institution to divest from companies doing business with South African apartheid,” Turner said. “So there's a long legacy of Ohio University students demanding that the institution use the money that we give it for ethical reasons that benefit the students and the world.”
OU Publius is a relatively new organization on campus, and its mission is defined as “united in defense of democracy through anti-authoritarian action” on its Instagram account.
Publius President Clayton Snyder, a sophomore studying political science and pre-law, felt endorsing this bill aligned with the organization’s agenda as it is “... trying to make sure that the values of accountability and the values of Justice are preserved at the university level.”
Publius Vice President Riley Dunfee, a junior studying integrated social studies, also shared her views on the topic.
“It's really important to democracy in general, as well as any institution, that it represents the people that are giving to it, and as students who pay thousands of dollars in tuition, that money going to something that most of the student body as it has become inherently clear to a process that we don't support … it is about time that this comes to a student body vote,” Dunfee said.
Turner said there are details he wants people to know about with the proposal of this bill.
“Universities, especially public universities, can shape policy and shape change in the world, and us as students have power in these institutions, and we should use that power for the betterment of the world,” Turner said.
Dunfee also shared the importance of this vote.
“We don't want to be that generation of students that kind of let it (injustice) fall under or be brushed under the rug,” Dunfee said. “It's really important that we uphold that because a lot of the very rich history of Athens is in the students that attend OU. And we want to keep that history rich, and we also want to be on the right side of history.”
Turner also said SJP sent an email to OU President Lori Stewart Gonzalez and the Board of Trustees "reaffirming" the 1978 “precedent,” but did not receive a response.
“It is vital that we use our voices as university students to demand that our institution … puts their money where their mouth is, which includes terminating investments in Israel bonds,” Turner said. “It is very important to acknowledge that Israel bonds are not good fiscal investments. Israel bonds have been downgraded by all three internationally recognized credit agencies multiple times since October 7, 2023, and they continue to not be high-grade bonds.”
Dunfee said it is important that students partake in this vote.
“It's definitely a question of representation in our administration,” Dunfee said. “It has become super clear over the past several semesters that students don't feel represented, and this is our chance to be represented and to have a say in where our money is going.”
Turner said SJP brought these topics to a student vote because of the variety of student organizations ready for an open discussion.
“This issue is not exclusive to Students for Justice in Palestine,” Turner said. “There are many, many community and student organizations that are passionate about this issue and want to end the university's complicity in acts of genocide and apartheid. We brought a referendum and not a bill to the student senate because we believe it is important that this goes to a student vote and that student voices are heard.”
