President Holloway of Rutgers Addresses Divestment and Protests on Campus.
Rutgers University President Jonathan Holloway addressed recent student protests about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and defined the university’s position on the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) movement in a recent speech.
“While I do not have the authority to decide on divestment, I would like to reiterate that I think the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction movement is wrong,” Holloway said. I believe it is incorrect to divest from Israel.” He underlined that Rutgers is committed to its current investment practices and has not committed to divesting from companies operating in Israel. “We did agree to meet with the students who made the request and nothing more,” Holloway said.
Meanwhile, Tel Aviv University intends to launch a satellite campus in New Brunswick’s upcoming Innovation & Technology Hub. The offices of Rutgers, Princeton University, Hackensack Meridian, and RWJBarnabas will be located in this $665 million, ten-story building. In November 2021, Tel Aviv University declared that it would be the Hub’s first foreign tenant, leasing space for offices, classrooms, and laboratories.
In the wake of these events, Jewish organizations in New Jersey have denounced Rutgers for caving in to the demands of student demonstrators and threatened to withhold money unless the university renounces its agreements. In a letter to Holloway, more than seven hundred members of the Rutgers Jewish community threatened to stop giving money and other forms of support if the university did not renounce the eight agreements it had made with the demonstrators. The four major New Jersey Jewish federations denounced Holloway’s deal as a “shameful capitulation to the pro-Hamas encampment” and demanded that the state step in and remove Rutgers’ financing.
Holloway gave a speech on May 6 to the Rutgers Board of Governors in which he discussed the difficult environment in higher education. He spoke into depth about how the rallies, which on Thursday had become disruptive, had started out as a nonviolent statement against Palestine and the Gaza conflict. A tense atmosphere resulted from the mix of demonstrators and counter-demonstrators, some of whom were from outside the Rutgers community, according to Holloway.
Holloway remarked, “Some people have said I should have engaged police to clear the protest and arrest those who resisted,” in reaction to the outcry. We were ready to carry it out. I’m happy that wasn’t necessary.” Reiterating that the talks were with Rutgers students who made recommendations about academic and student matters, like a cultural center, trainings, and course options, he accepted the criticism of holding talks with the demonstrators. The Chancellor’s Advisory Council on Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian Life is now handling these requests.
Additionally, Holloway brought up the pre-existing, 2022-dated connection with Birzeit University. He said he was confident in the measures made by the institution and that they had resulted in a peaceful return to normalcy on campus. “The result of our actions was a peaceful return to the normal course of business,” Holloway said.
This set of incidents brings to light the complicated and frequently tense atmosphere in which universities function, juggling opposing points of view while preserving order and safety on campus.
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