Protests demanding divestment broke out across the country in the spring of 2024.
Lewis & Clark College has divested its endowment funds from all weapons manufacturers, making it one of few higher education institutions in the U.S. to do so, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
The new policy, approved by the private college’s Board of Trustees in mid-October, also requires the institution to publicly post at least once a year a list of the companies it invests in. The policy does not mention the war between Israel and Hamas, which sparked demand for such divestment in the first place.
For nearly two years, Lewis & Clark students have been calling on college leaders to withdraw any investments in weapons manufacturers or Israeli companies. But Paula Hayes, chair of the college’s Board of Trustees, said in a statement that the change had nothing to do with “any particular geopolitical situation or conflict.”
“Such considerations are inherently volatile, changing, and divisive, and contrary to the generally held view that the endowment should not be used to advocate specific positions on world affairs,” she said.
Students, on the other hand, called the decision a direct response to their demands.
“This is a functional divestment from genocide. The administration may attempt to depoliticize, but this is a political act,” Lewis & Clark student Sam Peak told OPB at a rally Oct. 22 celebrating the trustees’ decision. “This is a win for the boycott, divestment, sanctions movement and for solidarity with Palestine.”
A number of student groups across the country have made similar demands of their administrators, but few have succeeded. Among the institutions that have divested are the University of San Francisco and San Francisco State University. Others, including the University of Oregon, Oregon State University and Portland State University, have considered such an action but have yet to follow through.
