Students demonstrated outside UW President Vivek Goel’s office, demanding answers from the Board of Governors after a student-led motion proposing divestment from companies complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza was not included on the meeting agenda, according to OccupyUW. 

“The companies UW is invested in pervade through every part of this genocide, from manufacturing the weapons to transporting them to Israel to providing surveillance technology and AI targeting capabilities,” a speaker with OccupyUW said at the demonstration. “The motion called on you [UW] to divest from these companies. It was submitted on time, and according to all protocols, why did you not include the motion on the agenda for today’s meeting?” 

Demonstrators gathered on April 15, originally with plans to disrupt the Board of Directors meeting. However, the meeting was moved preemptively online in response to the planned demonstration. Despite the change in plans, students continued their demonstration inside Needles Hall, holding a mock board meeting and passing the motion with a unanimous vote. Several constables and police officers were present at the scene.  

Students then chanted and marched down campus towards Westmount Road.

While no UW policy guarantees that motions submitted to board meetings that adhere to proposal policy be included on meeting agendas, OccupyUW claims that their proposal was neither considered nor looked at. 

“The motion does not have to be accepted, but it is usually looked at. They did not even accept it, they did not even accept to look at it. So we came to remind admin that there is a genocide going on and students have overwhelmingly voted for divestment,” said a spokesperson for OccupyUW, who requested to remain anonymous. 

Drafted by UW Voices for Palestine (UWVFP), The Proposal for University of Waterloo to Divest from Israeli Genocide and Occupation motion calls on the university to divest over $59.8 million worth of holdings in 63 companies the student group says are “directly involved in Israel’s illegal occupation and genocide.” Of these companies, 24 are weapons manufacturers totalling an investment value of over $8.9 million. 

The motion recommends UW divest from these companies within six months of April 15. These investments are held as part of The University of Waterloo Endowment Fund and the University of Waterloo Pension Plan, according to UWVFP. 

For more information on the motion, visit this link.

A gallery from the protest: