On September 25, community members protested outside of Koerner Library to demand UBC divest from companies organizers say are complicit in human rights violations against Palestinians.
At 10 a.m., protesters gathered in the pouring rain near a tent set up outside the library to listen to speakers. A few minutes prior, Campus Security closed down Koerner Library and turned away students from entering.
The first protest speaker was Dr. Hicham Safieddine, a UBC history professor. He said he was denied entry into Koerner Library by Campus Security despite showing his UBC ID.
“No matter what they do, we will continue to stand strong,” said Safieddine. “We will continue to do our very basic right and duty to defend the people who are being attacked.”
Safieddine said people were protesting because UBC’s Board of Governors (BoG) meeting was the same day in the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre.
The BoG is UBC’s highest governing body and makes decisions about UBC’s finances and property use.
“The university has explicitly endorsed the divestment from fossil fuels … this means that they cannot tell us that they do not endorse divestment as a common principle,” said Safieddine. “We are calling on them to divest from military companies, from companies that invest in death and destruction.”
In 2022, UBC rejected calls from student groups to divest from companies they said are complicit in Palestinian human rights violations and endorse the boycott, divest, sanction (BDS) movement.
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In a December 2023 statement and on May 28 at a House of Commons standing committee meeting, UBC President Benoit-Antoine Bacon reaffirmed that UBC does not support BDS.
In May, Bacon said UBC’s endowment “does not directly own any stocks in the companies identified by the movement.” Instead, “capital is held in pooled funds and managed by external investment managers.”
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Bacon also said UBC is a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment, a United Nations-supported framework of principles that set a responsible investing standard, and that the university's investment managers adjust their investment strategies based on environmental, social and governance principles.
After the speeches, protesters marched to the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre. As protesters marched down Main Mall, they chanted "free, free Palestine” and “Gaza, Gaza don’t you cry, we will never let you die.”
“The body that governs our institution is made up of individual members who are choosing not to divest from genocide,” said one protester outside the Alumni Centre.
Protestors attempted to enter the building’s foyer, but were stopped by Campus Security. Protesters instead entered Loafe, which was blocked off from the rest of the building by a metal barricade. Protesters banged against the barricade and continued their chants.
“This is a message to the Board of Governors. Shame. Shame on UBC.”
Campus Security officers and two RCMP vehicles were present near the Alumni Centre.
“Campus Security protocols were in place to allow for peaceful protest while ensuring continuity of university operations," wrote Senior Director Media Relations Kurt Heinrich in a statement to The Ubyssey. "The decision to attend the scene was made by the RCMP."
“The safety and security of our campus community is our foremost priority. UBC respects the principle of peaceful protest and the tenet of freedom of expression within UBC's student code of conduct, discrimination policy, and the law.”
Protestors then walked through the AMS Clubs Fair and ended the rally shortly after at 11 a.m.
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