Here’s why UNC Charlotte says it won’t act on student resolution to divest from Israel
UNC Charlotte administrators say they won’t follow a resolution supported by hundreds of students demanding an immediate end to investments in Israel.
Two student groups at the university, Social Justice for North Africa and Southwest Asia and Revolutionary Student Front, created a petition Mar. 25, calling for UNC Charlotte’s divestment from Israel. As of Monday, the petition had 541 signatures and been endorsed by 14 student organizations, prompting the UNC Charlotte Student Government Association to draft and adopt a resolution. A North Carolina congressman also weighed in on social media that he supported the school’s decision to not comply.
The students’ resolution called for a total stop to investment by the university in any activities in 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 Israel-Hamas War began Oct. 7, when Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, launched a terrorist attack that killed over 1,200 Israeli civilians, with 240 hostages being taken. Since then, Israel has dropped thousands of bombs in Gaza. More than 32,000 people have been killed as of Tuesday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. That figure does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
UNC Charlotte released a statement Tuesday declining to act on the resolution, saying it would violate state-mandated neutrality.
North Carolina law stipulates that UNC system schools “may not take action, as an institution, on the public policy controversies of the day in such a way as to require students, faculty, or administrators to publicly express a given view of social policy.” Last summer, the law was amended to include the requirement that schools remain “neutral, as an institution, on the political controversies of the day.”
UNC Charlotte’s statement said student government leadership has been counseled on the requirement to remain neutral and that students should consider state law in making requests like the resolution.
”This SGA resolution does not align with that commitment and will not be acted upon by the administration,” the university said in its statement. “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.”
The president and vice president of the UNC Charlotte Student Government Association could not be reached for comment.
How could UNC Charlotte divest from Israel?
UNC Charlotte is the only non-Israeli university with a license to dig in Jerusalem, which was provided by the Israeli Antiquities Authority.
The Mount Zion Archaeological Project in Jerusalem has been funded and staffed, in part, by UNC Charlotte students and staff since 2008. It drew scrutiny in 2021 when a UNC Charlotte history professor was accused of sexually assaulting or harassing at least four students at the site between 2017-2019.
The petition called on the university to stop investment in the program, which critics say operates on land previously occupied by Palestinians who have now been displaced by the project.
UNC Charlotte’s website previously stated the program’s purpose is to “expose, examine and preserve all levels of habitation over the course of Jerusalem’s 3,000-year history.”
“That connection will be there forever — that connection between Charlotte and Jerusalem,” said Shimon Gibson, UNCC professor of archaeology and current Mount Zion Project director in a story for “Inside UNC Charlotte,” produced by the school’s office of communications.
However, the project’s website presented a message to visitors saying it was “archived or suspended” as of Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
NC congressman weighs in
U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson, a Republican who represented a Charlotte-area congressional district for a decade prior to moving to the 9th District, released a statement Tuesday supporting the university’s decision. He’s a UNC Charlotte alumnus and former student government association president.
“I applaud the administration for denouncing the students’ resolution and promoting civil discourse,” Hudson said. “While it is right for the students to be concerned about the suffering of all civilians, to do so without acknowledging the evil Hamas represents and the fact Hamas’ horrific actions are the reason we are where we are is deeply disappointing.”
