Hundreds protest at Yale in solidarity with Columbia students
Hundreds of protesters calling for Yale to divest from weapons manufacturers over Israel’s bombardment of Palestine built an encampment on the Yale campus Friday evening, according to a press release.
At the protest’s peak, over 400 people gathered outside of the Schwarzman Center in Beinecke Plaza, according to Yale’s student newspaper Yale Daily News. Students built an encampment with 24 tents outside of a Board of Trustees dinner honoring outgoing President Peter Salovey to demand the University withdraw its investments in weapons companies directly aiding Israel. Salovey previously announced he would be stepping down this year.
The students said they were also showing solidarity with recent Columbia University protests which resulted in mass arrests on Thursday. The Columbia students, who built similar encampments protesting university investments in weapons manufacturers, were forcefully removed from Columbia’s property in a decision that has brought widespread criticism.
“We are here to defend students’ right to peaceful protest, and we stand in solidarity with our peers who have been arrested and suspended at Columbia,” said Yale student Lumisa Bista in a press release from Occupy Beinecke, the group who helped organized the protest. “We condemn the mobilization of police against students who were demonstrating for peace.”
“We are here asking, peacefully, to be heard by the board that is meant to serve our interests,” said Yale student Patrick Hayes in a press release from Occupy Beinecke. “We refuse to accept our university’s complicity in the slaughter of civilians, the eradication of entire families, and the razing of Palestinian land. Our encampment stands for peace.”
The Occupy Beinecke “Books not Bombs” encampment follows a weeklong occupation of Beinecke Plaza.
According to the group, Yale holds thousands of shares in index funds from defense and weapons manufacturers that help aid Israel’s war with Palestine. The Yale Corporation, the business and investment arm of the University, disclosed the holdings.
In Yale’s most recent SEC filings, the University holds over 6,400 shares of iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market ETF, an exchange-traded fund managed by Blackrock, according to Yale Daily News. The fund invests in at least 75 military contractors that sell weapons to Israel. Yale also holds 342,000 shares in Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF, totaling $14 million. Around $428,000 of the Vanguard ETF is invested in companies that contract with the Israeli military.
“I am here because Palestinian life and all life is precious,” said Yale student Adam Nussbaum in a release. “We know that the slaughter of 33,000 people in Gaza, including over 13,000 children, constitutes ‘grave social injury,’ even if the trustees have convinced themselves otherwise.”
The Occupy Beinecke “Book not Bombs” protest comes amid weeks of student-led activism calling for the university to disclose and divest investments in weapons manufacturers. Over 2,000 letters have been sent to Salovey from students urging Yale to act, according to a release from the group. But despite the pressure, the university has so far not signaled it would divest, according to the group.
“From New Haven to Gaza, all students deserve the right to a safe and supported education––deserve to learn without fear of being bombed and drone-striked,” said protestor Craig Birkhead-Morton ’25. “The University’s continued weapons investments imply that American school shootings merit divestment, but the destruction of every university in Gaza and slaughter of thousands of Palestinian students does not.”
The protestors said they will continue to occupy the Beinecke Plaza until Yale divests from the companies.
Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com
