Letter to the Editor: Call for a Faculty Meeting on Divestment

March 31, 2024

Dear Colleagues,

The undersigned call for a meeting of the Faculty at which the following motion will be moved for discussion and vote:

Motion:

Whereas this Faculty affirms that Israel, while it has a duty to defend its citizens, also has an obligation to do so within the constraints of international law and human decency;

Whereas this Faculty deems that Israel’s actions in Gaza have predictably led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians and to the wounding of many more, most of whom are innocent non-combatants, including many children; to catastrophic levels of disease and hunger, as well as imminent famine; and to the demolition of Gazan civil society, including the obliteration of Gaza’s health and education systems, religious buildings, as well as historical and cultural patrimony; and

Whereas this Faculty asserts that the commission of these atrocities is inconsistent with the ethical values of Amherst College and that Amherst College should not profit from investments in corporations that supply the material means for their commission; therefore, be it

Resolved, that this Faculty requests that the Board of Trustees of Amherst College identify and divest from corporations that supply military equipment used in the present campaign in Gaza.

Please note that signatories below are not indicating how they will vote on this motion; they are calling for a Faculty meeting at which this motion will be moved for discussion and vote.

Yours cordially,

Sony Coráñez Bolton
Ellen Boucher
Nusrat Chowdhury
Sonya Clark
David Delaney
Christopher Dole
Vanessa Fong
Judith Frank
Alexander George
Mekhola Gomes
Christopher Grobe
Rafeeq Hasan
Maria Heim
Katrina Karkazis
Adam R. Levine
Lauren Leydon-Hardy
Jared Loggins
Edward Melillo
Pooja Rangan
Ashwin Ravikumar
Mia de los Reyes
Yael Rice
Monica Ringer
Paul Schroeder Rodriguez