Georgetown University will not end its partnerships with Israeli universities or divest from companies with ties to Israel, despite students passing a nonbinding referendum to do so.
Interim President Robert M. Groves announced the decision in an email to the university community April 29, less than an hour after the Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA), Georgetown’s student government, announced the referendum had passed with 67.9% of students in support and 29.5% turnout.
“At Georgetown, a student referendum provides a sense of the student body’s views on an issue. Student referenda, however, do not create university policy and are not binding on the university,” Groves wrote in the email. “Georgetown will not implement this referendum, based on our institutional values and history and existing university resources and processes that address our investments.”
The referendum called on the university to divest from private companies with links to Israel’s military, such as Amazon and Google holding company Alphabet, end partnerships with Israeli academic institutions and disclose its private investments.
Groves said the proposed academic boycott was antithetical to the university’s goal of fostering dialogue, referencing earlier positions from university President Emeritus John J. DeGioia (CAS ’79, GRD ’95).
“As President DeGioia stated in 2013, ‘a boycott of Israeli universities undermines the academic freedom that is essential to the mission of the Academy …. as an academic institution, it is Georgetown’s responsibility to deepen engagement and foster dialogue between scholars and societies to enhance the entire global academic community,’” Groves wrote. “Our University remains opposed to any such boycott.”
Groves said the university will continue to promote dialogue.
“We are guided by our mission statement, which includes our belief that ‘serious and sustained discourse among people of different faiths, cultures, and beliefs promotes intellectual, ethical and spiritual understanding,’ Groves wrote. “This is a time to encourage such discourse.”
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.