RIVERSIDE, CA — Students protesting at UC Riverside over the school’s indirect financial support for Israel amid the war in Gaza have reached an agreement with campus officials that will, among other things, see an encampment disbanded at the college, according to an announcement Friday afternoon from UCR Chancellor Kim. A. Wilcox.
“I am pleased to share that we have reached an agreement that will result in the peaceful conclusion of the encampment by no later than midnight tonight,” Wilcox said in the May 3 letter addressed to the campus community.
Wilcox released a copy of what he called the “full agreement,” and said it would be carried out consistent with state and federal law.
Student protesters at UCR established a campus encampment Monday to speak out against Israel’s actions in Gaza. The students called for the school to end “all investments and endowments” benefiting the Jewish state.
“We are not leaving this encampment day and night until the university complies and meets with us to discuss our demands,” a spokesperson for Students for Justice in Palestine, UCR chapter, told City News Service.
According to the terms of Friday’s agreement, UCR will post to its website all of the UC’s investments and portfolios. A task force that includes students will also be formed to explore separating UCR’s endowment from the UC Investments Office management.
UCR endowments/investments will be reviewed by the task force with an eye toward divesting companies that pose an ethical conflict for the university, such as those dealing in arms manufacturing and delivering, according to the agreement.
The agreement also states that UCR’s School of Business has discontinued global programs in Israel, among other countries, and the university will modify its study-abroad approval process to ensure it’s non-discriminatory.
The agreement also calls for an ongoing review of Sabra hummus, “consistent with existing product review processes … .”
In 2015, UCR stopped selling the Sabra hummus brand in the school’s dining areas due to objections from the on-campus group Students for Justice in Palestine, which has led the current UCR campus protests. Sabra is partially owned by an Israeli company.
UCR quickly reversed course, however, calling the hummus recall a “mistake.”
In addition to Wilcox and other campus officials, Friday’s agreement is signed by Students for Justice in Palestine President Hibah Nassar and lead negotiator Samia Alkam.
Wilcox acknowledged the agreement “does not change the realities of the war in Gaza, or the need to address antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of bias and discrimination,” but said he was “grateful” for the “constructive and peaceful conversations” on how to address the complex issues.
UCR values students’ right to practice peaceful free speech, Wilcox said, adding, “these meetings have been productive, civil, and representative of multiple points of view on how to reach a resolution.”
