Ohio University does not intend to act on a measure, upon which the student body voted, to divest from Israel Bonds.
“While Ohio University values input from the student senate and the student body it serves, it is important to note that the university will neither consider, nor act upon, any resolution or referendum that proposes illegal actions or could expose the university to civil liability,” Dan Pittman, senior director of communications at the school, told JNS.
“Ohio law prohibits public universities from ‘engaging in refusals to deal, terminating business activities or other actions that are intended to limit commercial relations with persons or entities in a discriminatory manner,’” Pittman said. “More specifically, Ohio law prohibits divestment from Israeli investments.”
The spokesman added that the Ohio University Foundation publishes audited financial statements annually that “are publicly available in accordance with state law.”
Pittman told JNS about the public school’s intentions after the student government voted overwhelmingly for a referendum calling for the university to divest from Israel Bonds.
The referendum, which JNS viewed, asked students if the university should “commit to end all direct and indirect investments in Israel Bonds through the Ohio University Foundation until Israel Bonds are rated in one of the two highest categories by at least two nationally recognized statistical rating organizations.”
It also asked students if the school should publicly disclose its investments online.
The school’s Students for Justice in Palestine and Young Democratic Socialists of America chapters were among the organizations that backed the resolution.
A spokesman for the school’s student senate told JNS that 86.29% of the 1,853 students who voted, or 1,599, voted for the referendum.
According to its website, Ohio University has more than 28,000 students, including about 20,000 on its residential campus in Athens. That suggests that just about 6.5% of the student body voted on the measure.
The student senate spokesman told JNS that the referendum wasn’t about divesting from Israel but on “the phasing out of Israeli government bonds, based on the worsening credit rating by S&P Global, Fitch Ratings and Moody’s.”
“The idea is to simply let Israeli bonds, if Ohio University has any invested in, reach the maturity date,” the spokesman said. “Also, the referendum from the student body is a non-binding recommendation.”
The “main goal” of the referendum is “to hold the Ohio University to a higher degree of financial transparency and responsibility,” the spokesman said.
An event on campus in March featured a speaker who performed a Nazi salute and made misogynistic, racist and antisemitic remarks, the Cleveland Jewish News reported.
