At Rutgers University, a student coalition has formalized what many campuses are quietly debating: whether academic institutions bear moral responsibility for the consequences of their partnerships and investments during wartime. The Endowment Justice Collective's 56-page divestment demand — targeting a Tel Aviv University satellite campus deal and five major weapons manufacturers — arrives as thousands of Palestinian civilians have died in Gaza, forcing university leadership to articulate, in writing, where the line between academic engagement and complicity is drawn. President Holloway has a
Rutgers Pro-Palestine Group Demands University Cancel Tel Aviv University Campus Deal
Thousands killed in Gaza in past six months; ongoing food, medicine and aid crisis amid Israeli siege.
complete divestment from these egregious investments, which drown our endowment fund and university facilities in blood
Mark
Why does a satellite campus in New Jersey matter so much to these students? It's not like Tel Aviv University is running the whole university.
Mimi
It's not really about the physical campus itself. It's a symbol. When Rutgers signs a partnership agreement with an Israeli university, the students see that as institutional endorsement—and they're asking: what is Rutgers endorsing, exactly? They're saying the university is choosing to align itself with a state they believe is committing genocide.
Mark
But Holloway says he believes in engagement, not isolation. Isn't there something to that argument?
Mimi
There is, and that's why this is genuinely difficult. Holloway isn't wrong that dialogue and academic exchange can matter. But the students would say: you can't dialogue your way out of a siege. When people are dying and aid is blocked, they see partnership as complicity, not engagement.
Mark
The Hub sounds like a real project—billions of dollars, multiple universities collaborating. Is Rutgers going to actually cancel this?
Mimi
Almost certainly not. Holloway has already said the partnership moves forward. He traveled to Israel to broker it personally. That's not a casual commitment. But the students have a vote happening, and they're planning to show up at the town hall. They're building pressure, even if they don't expect to win immediately.
Mark
What about the weapons companies? That seems like a separate issue from the Tel Aviv partnership.
Mimi
It is, but it's connected in the students' minds. They're saying: if Rutgers is investing in companies that supply weapons to Israel, and also partnering with an Israeli university, then the university is doubly implicated. It's not just one choice—it's a pattern of choices.
Mark
Has anything like this worked before? Has a university actually divested?
Mimi
Some have, in different contexts. But Rutgers under Holloway seems unlikely to move. He's been explicit about his opposition to BDS. The question now is whether the students can build enough pressure—through votes, through visibility, through continued activism—to make the cost of the partnership higher than Holloway is willing to pay.
O Pulso
- A student group has accused Rutgers of financing violence, submitting a formal 56-page demand to sever a high-profile Tel Aviv University partnership and liquidate holdings in five major weapons manufacturers.
- The stakes are sharpened by a $665 million innovation hub under construction and a partnership Holloway personally negotiated — making the demand feel less like protest and more like a direct challenge to his legacy.
- Thousands of Palestinian deaths and a deepening humanitarian siege in Gaza give the activists' language — 'blood-soaked endowment' — an urgency that is difficult for administrators to dismiss as merely rhetorical.
- Holloway has drawn a firm line, publicly opposing the BDS movement and reaffirming the Tel Aviv partnership, framing engagement over isolation as both principle and policy.
- A live student body divestment vote and a planned town hall confrontation signal that the pressure is structural, not episodic — and the administration's position, however clear, has not yet closed the debate.
At Rutgers University, a student coalition has formalized what many campuses are quietly debating: whether academic institutions bear moral responsibility for the consequences of their partnerships and investments during wartime. The Endowment Justice Collective's 56-page divestment demand — targeting a Tel Aviv University satellite campus deal and five major weapons manufacturers — arrives as thousands of Palestinian civilians have died in Gaza, forcing university leadership to articulate, in writing, where the line between academic engagement and complicity is drawn. President Holloway has answered clearly, choosing diplomacy over divestment, even as a student body vote and escalating activism suggest the question is far from settled.
On Tuesday, Rutgers University's Endowment Justice Collective submitted a 56-page formal divestment demand to the administration, calling on the school to cancel its partnership with Tel Aviv University and divest from companies linked to Israeli military operations. The group named Lockheed Martin, Boeing, RTX, Northrop Grumman, and L3Harris as priority targets, and accused the university of complicity in genocide — language grounded in the thousands of Palestinian deaths recorded over six months of Israeli military operations in Gaza and the ongoing humanitarian crisis caused by the siege.
At the center of the dispute is a partnership President Jonathan Holloway personally negotiated in 2021, when he traveled to Tel Aviv and signed an agreement making Tel Aviv University the first international tenant of Rutgers' Innovation and Technology Hub — a $665 million, 10-story complex being built in New Brunswick alongside Princeton University, Hackensack Meridian, and RWJ Barnabas. Governor Murphy has likened the Hub to Silicon Valley's innovation ecosystem. For the student activists, it represents something far more troubling: an institutional embrace of a government they hold responsible for mass civilian harm.
Holloway responded with a university-wide email, acknowledging the ongoing student body divestment vote while making his opposition to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement explicit. 'I believe in engagement, not isolation,' he wrote, reaffirming the Tel Aviv partnership as consistent with Rutgers' global academic mission. He also joined Governor Murphy and President Biden in calling for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages.
The confrontation is not new — Rutgers has fielded divestment demands since at least 2020, and the Students for Justice in Palestine group was suspended in December 2023 before being reinstated in January. With a formal student vote underway and the Endowment Justice Collective set to speak at a town hall Thursday evening, the pressure is intensifying. Holloway has stated his position clearly. Whether sustained activism and a student mandate will eventually shift the institution's calculus remains the open question.
On Tuesday, a student group at Rutgers University submitted a 56-page formal request to the administration demanding that the school sever its ties with Tel Aviv University and divest from companies doing business with Israel. The group, calling themselves the Endowment Justice Collective, framed their demand in stark terms: they accused Rutgers of complicity in genocide and called for the university to liquidate any holdings in firms "materially participating in, benefiting from or otherwise supporting" Israeli state activities. They named five weapons manufacturers—Lockheed Martin, Boeing, RTX, Northrop Grumman, and L3Harris—as priorities for divestment.
The immediate target of their campaign is a partnership that Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway personally negotiated in 2021. That year, Holloway traveled to Tel Aviv and signed an agreement to bring Tel Aviv University to New Brunswick as a tenant in the Innovation and Technology Hub, a sprawling $665 million, 10-story complex under construction across from the train station. When completed, the Hub will house research and classroom space shared by Rutgers, Princeton University, Hackensack Meridian, and RWJ Barnabas—a collaboration Governor Phil Murphy has compared to Silicon Valley's innovation ecosystem. Tel Aviv University announced in November 2021 that it would be the Hub's first international partner, renting office and lab space to establish a satellite campus.
The student activists grounded their demand in the human toll of the current conflict. They pointed to thousands of deaths in Gaza over the preceding six months of Israeli military operations, and to the ongoing crisis of food, medicine, and humanitarian aid shortages resulting from the Israeli siege. In their April 2 letter, they wrote that Rutgers' partnership with Tel Aviv University causes "harm to Palestinians both at Rutgers and on their indigenous land," and they used language suggesting the university's endowment was being used to finance violence: "complete divestment from these egregious investments, which drown our endowment fund and university facilities in blood."
Holloway responded publicly on Monday with an email to the entire university community. He acknowledged the ongoing student body vote on divestment but made clear his opposition to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. "I believe in engagement, not isolation," he wrote. "I believe that lasting progress and peace are the outcomes of diplomacy and discussion." He reaffirmed his commitment to the Tel Aviv University partnership, describing it as consistent with Rutgers' global academic mission and noting that the university maintains similar relationships with institutions worldwide. He also aligned himself with Governor Murphy and President Biden in calling for an immediate temporary ceasefire in Gaza and for Hamas to release all hostages.
The confrontation reflects a broader tension on campus. Student activism around Palestinian causes has been a recurring issue at Rutgers for years—the administration has fielded divestment demands since at least 2020. In December 2023, the university suspended the Students for Justice in Palestine group, citing multiple disruptions and safety concerns. That group was allowed to return to campus in January 2024. Now, with a formal student body vote on divestment underway and the Endowment Justice Collective planning to speak at a town hall Holloway is holding Thursday evening, the pressure is mounting. The president has drawn a clear line: the partnership with Tel Aviv University will proceed, and the university will not adopt the divestment framework the students are demanding. What remains to be seen is whether the student vote and continued activism will shift the calculus at an institution where the leadership has already made its position explicit.
Citações Notáveis
I believe in engagement, not isolation. I believe that lasting progress and peace are the outcomes of diplomacy and discussion.— Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway, in email to university community
Our partnership with Tel Aviv University adds to our fundamental academic and research mission.— Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway
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War & Conflict