On November 11, Clark’s Undergraduate Student Council (CUSC) emailed undergraduates to provide an update on actions taken following a referendum vote last March. 772 students participated in the referendum, which addressed divesting endowment funds, adhering to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and stopping purchasing from Amazon. This constitutes 33 percent of the student population.

What is BDS…Or, the Short Version

According to the BDS website, BDS describes themselves as a Palestinian-led movement using similar tactics as the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa to “pressure Israel to comply with international law.” The organization encourages followers to comply with three tenets: boycotting institutions and groups with monetary ties to the State of Israel, encouraging companies to divest from Israel and Israeli companies, and to pressure governments to impose sanctions on Israel. BDS has seen a surge in engagement and followers in the face of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

However, a TIME Magazine article from February of this year notes that many feel that the movement’s focus on Israel is “unfair.” In fact, the Anti-Defamation League calls BDS one of the world’s most controversial boycott movements. The primary concern is that this focus on pressuring Israel specifically is anti-Semitic, or could lead to increased antisemitism. According to TIME, 33 U.S. states have implemented laws that punish support for BDS as a result. 

Student Council Progress

In the November 11 email, CUSC broke down their progress on implementing each of the four provisions on Clark’s campus. This follows a CUSC meeting held on November 7 in which a public comment was made claiming that the referendum passed last semester was not “properly addressed,” as well as an October 10 “Strike for Palestine” protest at the campus gates. 

CUSC was busy over the summer trying to chart a path toward divestment. They met with Clark University President David Fithian and Dean Kamala Kiem to begin conversations. Student Council also researched alternative vendor lists to help clubs find options to achieve compliance with BDS demands. CUSC requested to meet with the Board of Trustees (BOT), but did not receive a response either from BOT or from Fithian, who sent a follow-up message on their behalf. 

CUSC Treasurer Kelechi Akabuogu created a vendor list to help clubs use alternatives to Amazon for purchases. CUSC has also collaborated with Student Leadership and Programming (SLP) to ensure that purchases through any vendor is made under the University’s tax exempt status so that federal and state taxes will not be applied inappropriately. Venders such as Walmart, Target and Party City were suggested, all of whom are not on the boycott list created by BDS. CUSC has also been encouraging registered student organizations (RSOs) to use this list, and regularly check the BDS Movement’s website to ensure compliance. 

However, according to Executive Board (E-Board) members, CUSC has faced some obstacles in their goal of implementing BDS from Clark University’s current dining vendor, Harvest Table. Harvest Table asserts that they do not “take a political stance,” according to company policy. 

Equity and Inclusion Response

On November 12, The Scarlet received an email from CUSC Equity and Inclusion Representatives Molly Joe, Jordan Alexandre, Melissa Bento, and Stephen Gibbons explaining that CUSC “has not forgotten about the referendum” and that they are “trying to make progress.” 

“We as Representatives have limited power so long as those above us are unwilling to allow change,” they wrote. “We, like you, are only students, navigating an opaque and bureaucratic system that is designed to protect certain interests. Our goals will only be achieved if enough of us are unwavering and persistent.”

CUSC Response

The Scarlet reached out to the CUSC E-Board and received an emailed response on November 17. CUSC writes that student support of the referendum has been “overwhelming.” Student leaders and the representative council both voiced support for upholding student opinion consistent with the referendum throughout Halloweekend. This included providing options for RSOs to avoid Amazon for all Halloweekend purchases and helping them find alternative vendors to Amazon.

“We encourage all undergraduate students to go to their representative’s office hours and to voice their thoughts about divestment,” they said. “We can try to perceive as much as we want, but we would rather act on actual thoughts from the student body.”

CUSC writes that their largest obstacle to implementing the referendum has been the student body itself, due to “low voter turnout” and “low engagement numbers” on last semester’s referendum vote. 

“As we all know this is an issue far outside of Clark University and CUSC elections as well, but this continues to impact our ability to act on behalf of the entire student body,” they wrote.

CUSC offered office hours as an opportunity to boost engagement with the student body. Each of the thirty-two CUSC representatives hosts weekly office hours, which are open for discussion on any questions or concerns for the council.

“We would love to get some feedback from all of you,” CUSC wrote. “This would better inform how representatives vote in meetings. Our mission as CUSC is to serve all of you and we would welcome input.”

Editor’s note – the following corrections were made to this article at 11:40 a.m. on December 6: the article originally does not cite the specific TIME Magazine article it is referencing. This has been corrected. It also suggested that summer meetings between Student Council reps and President Fithian and Dean Kiem were for the specific purpose of discussing how to move toward divestment. This is not the case. According to an administration spokesperson, the University did not indicate in those conversations any specific intentions or action that would be taken. The wording was adjusted to reflect this.

Additionally, wording has been changed to make clear that the University’s tax-exempt status is applied when a club makes a purchase, rather than the vendors themselves being tax-exempt. The article also erroneously reported that “as of November 15, no purchases have been made through Amazon using CUSC’s club budget.” As of November 15, 36 clubs have made 68 purchases through Amazon totaling $9,430.97 using CUSC’s club budget. Lastly, it was also reported that Harvest Table replaced items from companies flagged by BDS and purchases from local vendors to better comply with BDS. This is not true. Harvest table purchases from local vendors as a company approach to dining services.

The Scarlet regrets these errors.