Dive Brief:
- The head of Sonoma State University has been placed on leave after he negotiated a deal with pro-Palestinian student protesters on his campus.
- On Tuesday, President Mike Lee announced that the university, part of the California State University system, agreed to an academic boycott of Israel and to disclose the university foundation’s financial investments and find “divestment strategies that include seeking ethical alternatives.”
- The next day, Cal State Chancellor Mildred García said Lee announced the deal without the “appropriate approvals” and that the system had put him on administrative leave over “insubordination.” García said the system’s board and chancellor are reviewing the matter.
Dive Insight:
Colleges nationwide have been grappling with renewed calls to divest from Israel-affiliated companies in response to the Israel-Hamas war and the country’s bombardment of Gaza.
Negotiating with student protesters can help de-escalate campus tensions, academic experts have said. But some lawmakers and conservative critics have labeled colleges’ attempts to compromise as harmful to Jewish students as well as Israelis studying on U.S. campuses.
Some public California universities have agreed to study and consider divestment from weapons manufacturers as a result of talks with activists. And Sacramento State University recently revised its policies, saying it wouldn’t directly invest in “corporations and funds that profit from genocide, ethnic cleansing, and activities that violate fundamental human rights.”
But in Lee’s case, Cal State said system leaders did not authorize him to announce a compromise on behalf of Sonoma State.
When Lee initially announced Sonoma’s State agreement with the protesters — which largely met their demands — he thanked them for their engagement.
“I am pleased to witness that our students have effectively chosen to not be on the sidelines of history during this critical moment,” he said Tuesday. “They have peacefully utilized their agency, knowledge, and passion to effect change, and for that I am grateful.”
Under the agreement, Sonoma State would not pursue study abroad or faculty exchange programs with Israeli state colleges and research institutions, and the university would incorporate Palestine Studies into its curriculum, Lee said. Sonoma State would also create a student-employee advisory council focused on reviewing progress on the deal.
Furthermore, the university president, along with the group SSU Students for Justice in Palestine, called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
García said Wednesday that Lee’s statement deeply concerned her and would be “challenging and painful” for many students and community members to read.
“The heart and mission of the CSU is to create an inclusive and welcoming place for everyone we serve, not to marginalize one community over another,” García said in a statement Wednesday.
Lee issued a new statement Wednesday announcing his leave, mirroring García’s language.
“In my attempt to find agreement with one group of students, I marginalized other members of our student population and community,” he said in the mea culpa. “I realize the harm that this has caused, and I take full ownership of it.”
Nathan Evans, Cal State’s deputy vice chancellor for academic and student affairs, will take over as acting president.
Sonoma State isn’t the only college seeing pushback for engaging with protesters. At the end of April, Northwestern University reached an agreement with its student activists, though it stopped short of their demand to cut ties with Israel.
Now, the private Illinois university is facing increased scrutiny from Republican lawmakers. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., called the agreement “an unacceptable dereliction of duty,” as the House Committee on Education and the Workforce that she chairs demanded that Northwestern turn over all paperwork related to discipline and conduct cases over alleged antisemitism since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
The pushback on campus negotiations demonstrates the tricky spot college leaders find themselves in. Institutions that have cracked down on demonstrators have also faced backlash, often over bringing in police to remove student protesters or their encampments from campus.
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