UNC Charlotte condemns student Israel-Hamas resolution
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — University of North Carolina at Charlotte administrators are condemning a resolution from the Student Government Association tied to the Israel-Hamas war.
SGA members passed a measure on March 29 calling for the university to stop funding an archaeological research project in Israel until there is a ceasefire.
University leaders sent Queen City News a statement in response.
Student Government Association leadership has been counseled several times on the University’s commitment to maintain institutional neutrality and encouraged to consider that in their requests of administrators. This SGA resolution does not align with that commitment and will not be acted upon by the administration.
Dig site courtesy of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa
SGA plays an important role in the life of the University, and the University supports the rights of its students, individually and collectively, to freely express themselves. In doing so, however, they neither speak for nor represent the position of UNC Charlotte.
UNC Charlotte embraces different perspectives and promotes civil discourse, including and especially around difficult issues. The University is committed to fostering those conversations in a manner that affords respect, fairness, and dignity to every member of the campus community, and will immediately address any actions that compromise its ability to provide a safe environment to learn, live, and work.
A law went into effect in July 2023 instructing UNC system institutions not to take sides in political controversies.
Several student groups argue the funding of a license for a dig site in Israel violates that neutrality.
“Their actions speak otherwise. And I think that if they truly are neutral, they shouldn’t be funding other governments, especially not Israel,” said a member of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa (SJ4SWANA).
‘Die-in protest on Feb. 21, 2024, courtesy of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa ‘Die-in protest on Feb. 21, 2024, courtesy of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa ‘Die-in protest on Feb. 21, 2024, courtesy of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa ‘Die-in protest on Feb. 21, 2024, courtesy of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa
The social justice group aligned itself with the Revolutionary Student Front of UNC Charlotte and other student organizations to petition the SGA to take action against any university involvement in Israel.
The petition garnered 541 signatures as of April 3 and received support from 14 student organizations.
SJ4SWANA members requested to keep their identities confidential for fear of harassment over their beliefs.
They said they’re troubled by not only the Mount Zion project but by how little knowledge is currently available to the public about it. The web page featuring the details of the excavation work has been archived or deleted.
Dig site courtesy of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa Dig site courtesy of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa Dig site courtesy of Social Justice for Southwest Asia and North Africa
“We’re just trying to drive home the point of there is no transparency between the university that’s meant to represent us students and us as the student body,” said another member of SJ4SWANA.
Queen City News reached out to the faculty co-chairs of the Mount Zion project but did not receive a response.
SGA’s Israel Divestment Resolution included several articles.
The SGA will officially recognize the genocide being committed by the State of Israel with western backing in Gaza as just that: a genocide.
The SGA will call for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s total divestment of funds from the State of Israel until at least the time in which the State of Israel arranges a ceasefire in Gaza and there are proper measures in place to hold the State of Israel and other party actors accountable for their role in the Palestinian genocide.
The SGA will condemn the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s prior investments into the State of Israel, such as those in the Mount Zion Archaeological Project including its licensing from the Israel Antiquities Authority, and acknowledge these investment’s contribution to the displacement and genocide of the people of Gaza.
The SGA will call for complete and total transparency from the Board of Trustees concerning their prior and existing investments into the State of Israel.
The resolution passed 19-0, but one SGA senator abstained.
“We can’t necessarily demand things from the university, to divest from a research project when we’re trying to become one of the top research universities in the country,” said freshman and SGA senator Matthew Kingsley.
Kingsley said he does not speak for the entirety of the SGA. He said he felt he was the only member advocating for neutrality throughout the discussion.
“I kept saying, ‘I’m sympathetic of what towards what’s going on there.’ There’s a lot of death. You can’t not be sad about that. But I believe that our job as SGA is to remain apolitical,” Kingsley said.
SJ4SWANA members said the university leasing land and having economic interests in a county are reason enough to break the neutrality.
“We say that is not a political issue, this is more of a humanitarian crisis and it needs to be looked at as a humanitarian crisis,” they said.
A UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for April 25. Students said they plan to attend to ensure the board addresses their concerns.
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