College and University Monitor

Three years after the ballot initiative was first introduced to the Columbia College Student Council, elected representatives voted 25-12 via a secret ballot in favor of a referendum to gauge student support over whether the University should divest “from companies that profit from or engage in the State of Israel’s acts towards Palestinians that, according to CUAD, fall under the United Nations International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid acts against Palestinians.”

Sunday night’s vote follows two earlier efforts by Columbia University Apartheid Divest to pass its ballot initiative through CCSC. Since 2016, CUAD has spearheaded similar initiatives with various student government bodies. In March 2018, Barnard students passed a referendum, with 64.3 percent of voters in favor, that called for the Student Government Association to write a letter to administrators in support of divestment....