The University of Toledo student government passed a divestment resolution during an open forum meeting March 3. This is the first divestment resolution that has been passed by a university student government in Ohio.
The Toledo chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine presented a proposed resolution to the student government early in February calling on the university to divest from funds that invest in companies connected to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. The resolution cited specific companies including Cemex, Rolls-Royce, General Electric and Hewlett-Packard.
During a closed meeting Feb. 17, the student government voted 5-4 that the proposed resolution was unconstitutional.
According to Jessica Moses, president of Toledo Hillel, members of SJP recruited a lawyer and posted a long letter on their public Facebook page claiming the closed student government meeting wasn’t democratic and demanded that a new vote be presented in an open forum setting.
The UT student government announced that an open forum meeting would be held March 3 in the student union. Prior to the meeting, members of SJP promoted the resolution on social media using the hashtag #UTDivest.
Originally posted at Cleveland Jewish News
Photo: By The University of Toledo (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
