On Tuesday, February 17, the ASSU Senate passed a resolution that asks the Board of Trustees to divest from companies “complicit in human rights abuses” in Israel and Palestine. The 10-4 vote provided the two-thirds majority needed for adoption, and came a week after a 9-5 vote failed to pass. The matter has drawn international attention and generated heated debate across campus.
In remarks to the Faculty Senate on February 19, President John Hennessy urged “civil and rational” discussion around the proposal, saying, “An atmosphere of intimidation or vitriol endangers our ability to operate as an intellectual community.”
Hennessy quoted Stanford’s policy on investment responsibility, pointing out that the policy allows the Trustees to choose not to act on a proposal if that action is likely to have a negative impact on the university community.
"If the Trustees conclude that a specific Trustee action otherwise indicated under these Guidelines is likely to impair the capacity of the University to carry out its educational mission (for example, by causing significant adverse action on the part of governmental or other external agencies or groups, or by causing deep divisions within the University community), then the Trustees need not take such action."
He also clarified that Stanford University policy “does not contain provisions for broad or formulaic divestment. Any divestment request needs to focus on individual companies, including specific evidence that their activities cause direct and substantial social injury.”
Read the full text of President Hennessy’s remarks here.
