Anti-Semitism: Campus Divestment Resolutions in the USA
(2005-2021)
The first BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) resolutions were proposed in student governments in 2005-6, of the four introduced, two passed and two were defeated. Only five other resolutions were proposed in the following five academic years combined and three of those were defeated. The campaign began to take off in 2012-13 with 10 resolutions (six were defeated), followed by 19 in 2013-14 (12 were defeated) and 27 in 2014-15 (20 were defeated). Since that upsurge, the movement has shown signs of petering out.
Results of Campus BDS Resolutions 2013-2021
Results of Campus BDS Resolutions 2005-2013
Notes
Cumulative Results
In the last 17 years (2005-2022):
- A total of 148 BDS measures have been considered – 96 were defeated (65%) including those vetoed by student government presidents or repealed.
- Those votes were limited to a total of 73 schools, less than 2% of America’s 4,298 four-year colleges. (The California Community College Association is counted as one college and the UC Student Association, which has no power and represents no individual schools is excluded as were five graduate student programs).
- A total of 45 schools have approved a BDS resolution in the last 17 years, which represents about 1% of universities (excludes those vetoed).*
- A total of 56 schools have rejected BDS (there is some overlap as some of these have adopted BDS in other years) .
- A total of 32 schools had two or more votes; 12 schools had three or more, and 8 schools had four (Michigan, Michigan Dearborn, UC Riverside, UCSD, UCSB, Ohio State, UIUC). Schools holding the most votes - 7 (UCSB [defeated every time], Michigan, Michigan-Dearborn, UC Davis).
- Only 6 schools (Michigan Dearborn, Northwestern, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and UC Davis) have passed BDS more than once.
- Of the 73 schools that voted on BDS, 11 were ranked (at the time of the vote by US News & World Report) in the top 20 and 11 of 17 (65%) resolutions were defeated.
- A total of 23 schools in the top 50 entertained BDS initiatives and 37 of 60 were defeated (62%).
- In 2019, Brown became the first Ivy League school to pass a divestment resolution.
Even the handful of divestment resolutions that were adopted by students have no authority and administrators have repeatedly made clear they have no intention of divesting from Israel. In fact, many of the same schools (e.g., UCI) dramatically increased cooperation with Israel after the votes. Overall, more than 98% percent of American campuses have had no divestment votes and have little or no BDS activity.
Results of Campus BDS Resolutions 2013-2021
School | 2021-22 | 2020-21 | 2019-20 | 2018-19 | 2017-18 | 2016-17 | 2015-16 | 2014-15 | 2013-14 |
Arizona State University | FAILED40 | | | | | | | FAILED | |
Barnard | | | | PASSED28 | | | | | |
Bowdoin College | | | | | | | FAILED | | |
Brown University | | | PASSED28 | | | | | | |
California Community College Student Senate | | | | | | | FAILED | | |
Cal State Long Beach | | | | | PASSED | FAILED19 | | | |
Case Western | | | FAILED | FAILED | | | | | |
Columbia | PASSED28 | | FAILED | | FAILED | | | | |
Cornell University | | | FAILED | | | | | FAILED | |
De Anza College | | | | | PASSED | | | | |
DePaul University | | | | | | | FAILED | PASSED2 | |
Earlham College | | | | | | | PASSED | | |
Florida Atlantic University (FAU) | | | | | | | FAILED | | |
Florida State University | FAILED | ||||||||
George Washington University | | | | PASSED | FAILED | | FAILED | | |
Georgetown | | | | | FAILED21 | | | | |
Georgia State | | | FAILED31 | | | | | | |
Grand Valley State | | | | | | FAILED | | | |
Harvard University | | | | | | | FAILED | | |
Marquette University | | | | | | | FAILED3 | | |
Montclair State | | | | | FAILED | | | | |
New York University | | | FAILED33 | | | | | | |
Northeastern University | | | | FAILED | | FAILED | FAILED | | |
Northwestern University | PASSED | | | | | FAILED19 | PASSED | | |
Oberlin College24 | | | | | | | | | |
Oglethorpe University | PASSED | ||||||||
Pitzer College | | | | | | | | ||
Pomona College | PASSED | ||||||||
Portland State | | | | | PASSED | FAILED20 | | | |
Princeton University (Undergrad) | | | | | | | FAILED | | |
Rutgers University - Newark | | | | | | PASSED | FAILED | | |
San Diego State | | | | | | | FAILED | FAILED | |
San Francisco State | PASSED | | | | | | | | |
San Jose State | | | | | | PASSED | | | |
Santa Clara University | PASSED | ||||||||
Scripps College | | | | | FAILED | | | | |
Stanford University | | | | | | | PASSED4 | | |
Swarthmore | | | PASSED34 | | | | | | |
The Ohio State University | PASSED | | | FAILED | FAILED26 | FAILED | FAILED | FAILED | |
Tufts | | | | | | | | ||
University of California, Berkeley | | | | | | | | PASSED5 | |
University of California, Davis | PASSED | FAILED36 | | | | | FAILED6 | FAILED | |
University of California, Irvine | PASSED | | | | | | | PASSED | |
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) | | | | | | PASSED | FAILED | ||
University of California, Merced | | | | | | PASSED | FAILED | | |
University of California, Riverside | | | | FAILED25 | PASSED | | FAILED | PASSED7 | |
University of California, Santa Barbara | FAILED | | FAILED | FAILED29 | FAILED | | FAILED | FAILED | |
University of California, San Diego | FAILED | FAILED38 | | | | | | PASSED | |
University of California, Santa Cruz | | | | | | PASSED12 | | FAILED | |
University of Chicago | | | | | | PASSED | | | |
University of Houston | FAILED40 | ||||||||
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | PASSED | FAILED36 | | FAILED28 | FAILED | | | | |
University of Illinois at Chicago | | | | | | FAILED19 | | | |
University of Indianapolis | | | | | | PASSED15 | | | |
Loyola University, Chicago | | | | | | | PASSED | FAILED9 | |
University of Maryland | | | FAILED | | | | | ||
University of Massachussetts, Amherst | | | | | | FAILED | | | |
University of Michigan | | | | PASSED | FAILED | | FAILED | FAILED | |
University of Michigan Dearborn | | | | | PASSED | FAILED16 | | PASSED | |
University of Michigan Flint | | | | PASSED | | | | | |
University of Minnesota | | | | PASSED28 | | FAILED17 | | | |
University of New Mexico | | | | | | | FAILED | FAILED | |
University of Oregon | | | | FAILED32 | | | | | |
University of South Florida | | | | FAILED27 | | FAILED14 | | | |
University of Texas, Austin | | | | | | | FAILED | | |
University of Washington | | | | | | | | FAILED | |
University of Toledo #3 | | | | | | | FAILED | | |
University of Wisconsin-Madison | | | | | PASSED15 | | | | |
Vassar | | | | | | PASSED13 | | | |
Wesleyan University | | | | | FAILED | | FAILED | PASSED |
Results of Campus BDS Resolutions 2005-2013
School | 2012-13 | 2011-12 | 2010-11 | 2009-10 | 2008-9 | 2007-8 | 2006-7 | 2005-6 |
Arizona State | | FAILED | | | | | | |
Brown University | | | | | | | | FAILED1 |
Evergreen State College | | PASSED | | | | | | |
Oberlin College24 | PASSED | | | | | | | |
Stanford University | FAILED | | | | | | | |
University of California, Berkeley | FAILED | | | FAILED30 | | | | |
University of California, Davis | PASSED | | | | | | | |
University of California, Irvine | FAILED37 | | | | | | | |
University of California, Riverside | FAILED8 | | | | | | | |
University of California, Santa Barbara | FAILED | | | | | | | |
University of California, San Diego | PASSED | FAILED | FAILED | | | | | |
University of California, Santa Cruz | FAILED | | | | | | | |
University of Massachussetts, Amherst | | | | | FAILED10 | | | |
University of Massachussetts, Boston | | PASSED | | | | | | |
University of Michigan | | FAILED | | | | | | FAILED11 |
University of Michigan Dearborn | | | PASSED | | | | PASSED | PASSED |
University of South Florida | FAILED | | | | | | | |
University of Wisconsin, Plattesville | | | | | | | | PASSED |
Notes
1 Brown 2006 - No vote, activist proposal to investment comm that failed.
3 2015 Marquette passed a divestment bill after removing references to Israel.
5 2014 A section of the resolution was later found invalid.
6 2015 passed then failed on technicality, then passed again. Ruled unconstitutional in 2019.
10 Divestment was tabled but a comm was set up to divest from compnies more generally.
11 Michigan Student Senate vote.
12 Reversed veto of 2014 divestment resolution.
13 Passed divestment rejected Hummas boycott.
14 Won, was vetoed, won again but ruled unconstitutional.
15 Defeated first time then passed.
16 Dearborn has had most votes, 2016 first time defeated.
182015-2016 Did not count grad student votes supporting BDS at CUNY, Umass and NYU (which was reversed by UAW).
19Passed watered own version that wasn’t anti-Israel - counted as victories.
21Investment Committee rejected divestment; it was not a student govt resolution.
22Vote on Eve of Passover at Tufts on Passover at Pitzer when Jewish students were gone.
24Trustees announced they would not divest from Israel in 2015 http://oberlinreview.org/9008/news/board-rejects-student-divestment-proposals/.
25Failed to reach support needed to bring to the floor.
26Resolution passed after anti-Israel boycott language was removed.
27Resolution passed with a number of anti-Israel clauses, but after the call for boycotting Israel was removed.
30Passed, then vetoed and veto was sustained.
31Not considered because of possible violation of state anti-boycott law.
32In 2019, the resolutions was deemed unconstitutional.
33Student govt passed resolution but stripped out mention of Israel before final vote.
34Student govt rejected divestment and later passed it.
35Failed despite vote being held during Passover over objections of Jewish students.
36Passed then vetoed by student govt president.
37Repealed by student senate in 2020.
38BDS removed from resolution calling for defunding university police.
39In 2021, UCLA passed a broad divestment resolution that was directed at a variety of targets and referred to the 2014 UCLA BDS vote and speciously accused Israel of “Ethnic cleansing.” It is not included here.
Cumulative Results
BDS Wins | BDS Losses | Total Votes | % BDS Lost | |
2021-22 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0% |
2020-21 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 36% |
2019-20 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 100% |
2018-19 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 80% |
2017-18 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 64% |
2016-17 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 67% |
2015-16* | 7 | 11 | 18 | 61% |
2014-15 | 6 | 21 | 27 | 78% |
2013-14 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 63% |
2012-13 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 60% |
2011-12 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 60% |
2010-11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 50% |
2009-10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
2008-9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
2007-8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
2006-7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0% |
2005-6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 50% |
Total | 53 | 96 | 148 | 65% |
% | 36% | 65% | ||
*Doesn't count 3 watered down resolutions that passed |
Other Notes:
The list does not include all resolutions that did not come to a vote; for example, in cases where BDS resolutions were withdrawn or removed.
In 2009, under pressure from anti-Israel activists, Hampshire college divested from a mutual fund with Israeli holdings but denied the decision was boycott related
In 2010, Berkeley passed a divestment resolution, which was vetoed by the student government president and that veto was sustained nullifying the resolution.
In 2010, DePaul and Princeton boycotted Sabra Hummus but that was reversed.
In 2015, Western Washington preemptively voted against all boycotts
In 2015, the UC Student Association (UCSA) passed a divestment resolution, but it is not counted as a campus.
#*In 2015-16, four graduate programs voted on divestment: the NYU Graduate Union voted no; graduate students at CUNY, Amherst and the U of Washington voted yes. NYU vote was later reversed by UAW.
Sources: AICE and news sources.