Columbia University’s investment committee has rejected a series of sweeping proposals to divest the school’s $15.9 billion endowment from Israel, dealing a major setback to the anti-Israel activists who have made divestment their central demand since the campus protests that erupted after the October 2023 Hamas invasion.

The decision is the most consequential institutional response yet to the Columbia University Apartheid Divest coalition, whose encampments, rallies, and building takeovers ignited similar protest movements on campuses across the United States.

Activists filed three separate divestment proposals last year calling on Columbia to sever financial ties with companies accused of human rights violations, pressure firms in which it holds stakes to halt any activities deemed “complicit” in alleged abuses against Palestinians, and fully divest from Israel and all entities linked to alleged violations of international law.

Protesters repeatedly chanted “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest” as they pushed the university to cut all financial ties to Israel and companies connected to it.

But after months of review, Columbia’s Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing (ACSRI) rejected all three measures.

In its posted ruling, ACSRI said the human-rights-based proposal was so vague that it could encompass much of the global stock market, making “any investment activity difficult.” The committee noted that virtually any major corporation could be accused of violating human rights, leaving the proposal with no clear boundaries.

The second and third proposals — focused explicitly on isolating Israel — failed an even higher bar: the requirement of broad institutional consensus. The committee said that significant opposition from Jewish and pro-Israel students, faculty, and alumni made clear that such consensus does not exist. Under ACSRI rules, even strong minority opposition is enough to block a divestment proposal.

The committee also stressed that the activists’ demands were not financially feasible. The proposals targeted multinational giants such as Boeing, Caterpillar, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, General Dynamics, Alphabet, and Amazon. These companies make up a major share of the U.S. stock market and are embedded in exchange-traded funds and other bundled investment vehicles, meaning divestment would force Columbia to unwind large parts of its portfolio.

ACSRI’s recommendations are technically advisory, but they heavily influence the Columbia Investment Management Company and the university’s Board of Trustees. A university spokesperson declined to comment, but the ruling makes it highly unlikely that Columbia will divest from Israel or from any of the targeted corporations.

The decision marks the firmest institutional rebuke to the divestment movement at Columbia — the epicenter of nationwide campus unrest over Israel. It also sets a precedent for other universities wrestling with similar demands amid rising tensions, donor pressure, and competing claims from students.

For now, Columbia’s investment leadership has delivered a decisive answer to the activists who vowed they “will not stop” until Israel is financially isolated — and that answer is a resounding no.

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