University of Maryland student organizations are campaigning ahead of a campuswide vote in this week’s SGA election about whether to call on the University System of Maryland Foundation and University of Maryland College Park Foundation to divest from certain defense, military and security companies.
The Student Government Association passed an emergency bill on March 5 to hold the nonbinding campuswide referendum during the election, which is from April 1 to 3. The ballot question comes months after more than 650 students signed a petition urging SGA to add the question to its 2025 election ballot, The Diamondback previously reported.
This university’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter circulated the petition, which came days after a nearly identical SGA resolution failed to advance in November.
If passed, the ballot question calls on SGA to begin lobbying the university system foundation and UMCP foundation to divest from companies, such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, that may be “implicated” in human rights violations in places such as Palestine, Myanmar and the Philippines.
Diego Henriquez, the ticket chair of the JusticeUMD ticket in the 2025 SGA election, said it is vital for the student body to voice its opinion on this university’s administration.
According to JusticeUMD’s platform, the ticket advocates for divestment “from companies committing or profiting off of human rights violations globally.”
Henriquez, a sophomore environmental science and technology major, said JusticeUMD is attempting to increase voter turnout by communicating with cultural, religious and ethnic organizations across campus.
“I’m glad the SGA has allowed the referendum to get to the student body,” Henriquez said. “It finally allows the overall student body to be able to give their opinion on an issue they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to.”
[UMD students will vote on divestment from defense companies in April’s SGA election]
JusticeUMD has received endorsements from multiple student groups at this university, including the Muslim Student Association and the Palestinian Cultural Club.
In response to The Diamondback’s request for comment about the referendum on March 6, the university system and university system foundation referred to the foundation’s website about sustainable investments.
The website said the foundation will only consider divestment inquiries from a university’s president’s office or an “official governance entity,” such as the SGA or faculty senate.
The TerpsVoteNo movement advocates for students to vote against the referendum to protect future career and job opportunities ahead of this week’s SGA election.
“Investing allows for constructive criticism and reform from within,” TerpsVoteNo wrote in a March 27 Instagram post. “Divestment is a one-sided approach that shuts down dialogue.”
Similar resolutions about divestment also failed to advance in 2017, 2019 and last spring, The Diamondback previously reported.
Isaac Shiner, a member of this university’s Jewish Student Union, said he opposes the referendum because he views it as an attempt to ostracize some Jewish students on campus and “vilify Israel.” The junior government and politics and journalism major said the SGA should work to benefit students by improving campus safety measures, rather than considering divestment again.
“It’s important to show as a campus community that we’re going to reject these antisemitic attempts on our campus,” Shiner said.
This university’s Jewish Student Union wrote in a statement to The Diamondback that the organization is worried about the referendum, claiming it aims to “sow hate and isolation on campus.”
[UMD students petition SGA for campuswide vote on divestment from defense companies]
Discussions about divestment have increased at this university since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which it killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 hostage, according to the Associated Press. Israel declared war on Hamas the next day and its military forces have killed more than 50,000 Palestinians since, the Associated Press reported Sunday.
Israel and Hamas reached a temporary ceasefire deal in January, which expired on March 2, according to the Associated Press.
Israel and Hamas are negotiating a new ceasefire proposal after Israel resumed its offensive in Gaza in recent weeks, the outlet reported Saturday. Israeli airstrikes killed more than 400 people in Gaza on March 18, the Associated Press reported.
Hershel Barnstein, a board member of this university’s Jewish Voice for Peace chapter, said the organization will continue to vocalize its support for divestment. Collaborating with companies targeted in divestment efforts doesn’t align with this university’s values and views on human rights, the senior biology major said.
Jewish Voice for Peace has been distributing flyers to students and in academic buildings with information and resources about the referendum, Barnstein said. The chapter has also promoted the resources on its social media accounts, he added.
Barnstein said Jewish Voice for Peace hopes the referendum will pass because of the “broad cross-campus and multiracial support” it has received since engaging with students about divestment.
“When it comes down to it, people will see this and vote for their conscience,” Barnstein said. “That will end up making the difference.”
The UMCP foundation deferred to this university in response to The Diamondback’s request for comment on March 6 about the referendum. This university deferred to the university system for the same request.
