UDivest
We call on the University of Delaware to address its complicity in the Israeli apartheid and ecocide, and demand the university to divest from companies exacerbating and funding this ongoing community harm.
We call on the University of Delaware to address its complicity in the Israeli apartheid and ecocide, and demand the university to divest from companies exacerbating and funding this ongoing community harm.
As students at the University of Delaware, we are calling for UD administration to:
Increase transparency about the Endowment
End grants and gifts to weapons manufacturers, defense contractors, military partners, and increase transparency about the grant process
Sever partnerships with companies that invest in harmful practices
Shift away from fossil fuel investments
Play a proactive role in the management, of UD's endowment to ensure it is managed in a way that aligns with the shared values of the University community
Very simply, divestment means to retract investments in harmful companies or practices. University students pressured their administrations to divest from companies involved in South African apartheid in the 1980s, and in recent years have been successful in demanding fossil fuel divestment from more than 100 US colleges. In the spring of 2024, college students have been amplifying calls to divest from companies involved in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians, such as weapons manufactures. We are already seeing that our efforts are working. For example, Portland State University has paused all relations with Boeing.
Publicly available information about the University of Delaware, such as IRS 990 forms, reveal that UD continues to have ties with weapons manufacturers and fossil fuels.
According to IRS Form 990 for the financial year 2021-2022, the University of Delaware issued the following grants:
$156,021 for ATC Manufacturing, who is a supplier of Boeing
$15,000 for Joby Aero Inc, a partner of the US Military
$233,125 for Plitzie Inc, a Department of Defense contractor
$166,578 for Raytheon, a weapons manufacturer
$30,776 for Spirit Aerosystems Inc, another supplier for Boeing
The University is very proud of their relationship with JP Morgan Chase. JP Morgan Chase remains one of the largest funders of fossil fuel projects in the world, and has 253.68k shares with Elbit Systems worth $19,629,603,640.
Parts of the UD Endowment are managed by the firm Northern Trust. Northern Trust is the assets provider for Boeing's retirement funds- worth billions of dollars. Northern Trust is also invested in numerous other weapons manufacturers.
As of 2023, the University still has $37 million invested in oil and gas.
Divestment at the University of Delaware means ending grants and gifts to weapons manufacturers/defense contractors, severing partnerships with companies that wantonly invest in harmful practices, moving money away from fossil fuel investments, and playing a proactive role in the management of UD's endowment to ensure it is managed in a way that aligns with the shared values of the University community.