Pro-Palestine demonstrators hold up a mock body in front of police as they clear an encampment after students occupied the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall at the University of California, Irvine, in Irvine, California on May 15, 2024. / Photo: AFP
The group asked for the system to halt its investments in weapons manufacturers, the investment firms Blackstone and BlackRock, and two dozen companies across the entertainment, technology and beverage industries. For weeks, students at campuses across the country have been protesting and setting up encampments at their universities to call on them to be more transparent about their investments and to divest from companies that financially support Israel.
“Investment in arms production is antithetical to the UC’s expressed values and the moral concerns of the students, workers, and faculty that the Regents represent,” the letter says. The coalition did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent via email and social media on the letter and the $32 billion estimate.