A group in Berkeley has four major demands, one of which is divesting the UC's $160 million investment fund from assets related to Israel, focusing on companies engaged in arms manufacturing or with ties to Israel. The targets are broad index funds like lap rock, containing global equities, and specific funds like the S&P 500 fund holding companies like Boeing. The BDS movement, active for over two decades, has been successful in gaining student support for divestment initiatives.
Protestors at universities across the country have been demanding that their institutions divest from companies that are tied to Israel or the war in Gaza, a demand universities have long rejected as antisemitic.
On today’s Big Take podcast, Sarah Holder talks to Bloomberg higher education reporter Janet Lorin and California reporter Eliyahu Kamisher about what’s really inside endowment funds and why universities are unlikely to yield to the calls of disclose and divest.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.