“We appreciate student activism regarding issues of consequence in our society. The University of Michigan Central Student Government recently approved a resolution (A.R. 7-019) calling for the appointment of a committee to investigate divestment from certain companies alleged to violate human rights in the Middle East. After careful consideration of this resolution, we decline to do so. More broadly, we strongly oppose any action involving the boycott, divestment or sanction of Israel.
We must consider the broad landscape of university stakeholders including all students, our faculty, staff, alumni and the citizens of the State of Michigan.
We remain committed to the university’s longstanding policy to shield the endowment from political pressures.
Most importantly, our university has long been a community that seeks to study and improve the human condition through our research and scholarship. We work together to better understand the most complex challenges we face on campus and beyond. We do this work through active engagement in the world around us. To boycott, divest or sanction Israel offends these bedrock values of our great university.