More than 100 students filled the James West Alumni Center on
Monday, standing with linked arms in support of the University of
California’s divestment from Sudan, as a committee of the UC
Board of Regents approved the creation of a proposal to divest UC
holdings from the country.
Monday’s meeting of the regents’ Investments
Committee was the first time the board had addressed the issue of
divestment from Sudan, a country whose government has been
recognized by the U.S. as having committed ongoing genocide in
western Darfur for more than two years.
After a presentation by Student Regent Adam Rosenthal, who
requested the proposal, the committee voted unanimously for the
Office of the President to develop a full proposal analyzing the
possible effects of divestment from four companies engaged in
business in Sudan.
The proposal will be discussed at the regents’ January
meeting. In his presentation, Rosenthal estimated that between
160,000 and 400,000 people have been killed in the genocide in
Darfur.
“We have the opportunity today to stop the death and
suffering ongoing in Darfur,” he said.
Several regents complimented Rosenthal and his request for a
complete proposal, and there was little discussion before the
unanimous vote.
“(Consideration of) divestment from Sudan is reasonable
and responsible,” said Regent Norman J. Pattiz.
Rosenthal emphasized that divestment can be done without hurting
the UC’s financial portfolio if funds are invested in similar
companies in countries other than Sudan. He pointed to Stanford and
Harvard as examples of large institutions that have successfully
divested from Sudan.
The development of a proposal examining divestment could be
complicated by the UC’s investment in indexes made up of
groups of companies rather than individual companies themselves.
Despite its obstacles, Rosenthal said consideration of divestment
is an important opportunity for the UC to take the lead on stopping
genocide in Darfur.
“The UC has a … history of influencing public and
private opinion,” he said.
During the public comment session of the meeting, students,
faculty and members of the community urged the regents to pass
Rosenthal’s request.
UCLA African Studies Director Allen Roberts compared divesting
from Sudan to the UC’s divestment from South Africa in
response to the apartheid. Roberts said divestment, which was
largely student led, helped to overcome the apartheid in South
Africa and divestment in Sudan can help overcome genocide in
Darfur.
Roberts said that, though divestment would not hurt the UC
financially, not divesting hurts the UC morally.
Stanford student Ben Elberger, who headed the Stanford
divestment movement, told the regents no divestment campaign in the
nation has failed.
“The UC would be historic in voting down consideration of
divestment,” Elberger said.
The issue of UC divestment not only attracted the attention of a
large group of UC students, but also actor Don Cheadle, who spoke
in support of divestment. Cheadle recently starred in “Hotel
Rwanda,” a movie depicting the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, a
country just south of Sudan.
The actor was approached by students earlier this year and has
been working with them on the divestment campaign throughout the
quarter.
“It’s easy. I’m following them,” he
said.
After visiting refugee camps along the Chadian-Sudanese border
and meeting with humanitarian groups and political leaders from
Darfur earlier this year, Cheadle was able to give a unique
perspective on the suffering in Sudan.
“Having been there myself and having seen firsthand the
results of these atrocities, in my mind there is no counterargument
to at least considering the divestment of these funds,” he
said.
Cheadle also attended a press conference put on by the UC Sudan
Divestment Taskforce and spoke to a handful of students who
gathered at a rally in Meyerhoff Park before the UC Regents
meeting.
He said the United Nations has had little effective response to
the genocide, and while political leaders have labeled the
situation a genocide, they have not taken further action to stop
it.
Cheadle emphasized the power students have in stopping the
genocide. He said change has always been led by youth.
“Do not allow them to let your legacy be those who stood
by and let genocide happen,” he said to students at the
rally.
UCLA student Baylee DeCastro also spoke at the rally, urging
students to attend the regent meeting to show their support for
divestment.
“Students at the University of California will not stand
idly by while the university funds genocide,” DeCastro
said.
“You can have a hand … in ending the suffering of the
people in Darfur. We can end the suffering of almost a million
people,” she told students.
After the rally, students were told they could not go into the
regents’ meeting room yet because the committee was in a
closed session.
The large group of students patiently waited for nearly an hour
outside the alumni center for the meeting to enter open session.
They spoke, chanted, and sang in support of divestment. The crowd
of students only became larger as students called their friends
while they waited and passers-by stopped to listen.
To entertain the students while they were waiting, members of
the UC Sudan Divestment Taskforce led students in chants and at one
point asked students to perform random talents. After a rendition
of “Stand by Me,” Undergraduate Students Association
Council President Jenny Wood encouraged students to unite to
support divestment.
“This is a time when we as students have come together in
solidarity,” Wood said. “We are here to take ownership
of our university to make sure it’s not contributing to
genocide.”
With reports from Derek Lipkin and Sara Taylor, Bruin senior
staff.