UNC Charlotte trustees meet following weeklong student protests
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — UNC Charlotte’s Board of Trustees will meet Thursday to discuss various university issues, including student life, finance, and public relations.
The meeting comes the same week student supporters of Palestine set up an on-campus encampment to protest the school’s current projects in Israel and the university’s refusal to condemn the Middle Eastern country.
Student protestors also said they stand in solidarity with other campus protests nationwide, many of which have culminated in law enforcement involvement.
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A UNC Charlotte spokesperson said students got instructions to remove tents from the school’s CHHS/CoEd Plaza Monday because it violated a policy about structures on campus. Students complied with the school’s request but said they would continue to protest each day until Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting.
The Board of Trustee meeting agenda does not state that board members plan to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict. The meeting will be livestreamed here.
Student groups said they want the board to pass a resolution disclosing any university investments in Israel, such as the Mount Zion Archaeology Project, and divesting from those programs.
Late last month, the Student Government Association passed a resolution supporting such measures, but university leaders rejected it and committed to staying neutral.
“Their actions speak otherwise, and I think that if they truly are neutral, they shouldn’t be funding other governments, especially not Israel,” said one student protestor who did not want to share her name.
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The SGA resolution passed unanimously, with one student abstaining from the vote.
“I kept saying I’m sympathetic of what’s going on there,” SGA Senator Matthew Kingsley said. “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.”
Board of Trustees committee meetings begin at 9 a.m., and the board meeting itself convenes at 1:30 p.m. At this time, it is unclear if the board plans to address the ongoing protests.
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