Faculty Solidarity with USFCA Encampment

We as faculty, staff, and librarians proudly and enthusiastically stand here today in solidarity with our students as they practice their first amendment rights in pursuit of justice. We defend the right to free speech and peaceful protest on our university campus and invite all USF students, staff, and faculty to engage with this opportunity for free and open expression, inquiry, and debate. These avenues for learning, expression, and protest are coming at a critical time as we are all bearing witness to the genocide committed by Israel on the Palestinian people for over 75 long years. 

These unjust and inhumane acts are counter to our University’s Jesuit values and mission, which espouse care for the whole person and justice for all, paying special attention to those who are oppressed and marginalized. Our administration is faced with the important and simple decision to uphold these values when it comes to Israel. We encourage our administration to listen to its students who are upholding these values. Signs imploring our students to “change the world from here” ignite our campus in messaging that encourages all to take chances for causes they believe in on the path towards developing their cura personalis. We stand with our students who embody that message today and applaud them for their means of protest. To train students to critically think about the whole person across the globe, only to condemn their very acts we claim to develop is an injustice to our students and to the higher education system as a whole. Through their protest and this very visible encampment, they are screaming what the Society of Jesuits stated clearly in their letter about the atrocities in Gaza:  “We, Jesuits, reiterate our commitment not to remain silent. It is unacceptable that, despite attempts, almost six months into the present round of conflict, no one has been able to stop the killing. It is scandalous that no one has been able to ensure that the residents of Gaza have enough to eat. It is shameful that no one has been able to call the warmongers to account. ” We can no longer remain silent.

Our community statement, which circulated in December 2023, gathered nearly 1,000 signatures from faculty, staff, and alums; in it we asked the USF administration to call for a ceasefire and to take a stand against the genocide of Palestinians. But the administration has not responded to the community statement nor addressed the divestment resolution passed by the student senate. Our demands and our students’ demands are in line with a growing grassroots movement for social change, and with what we believe to be the values that USF claims to uphold. We support our students in demanding the following:

1. USF Condemn the Israel occupation's genocide of Palestinians.

2. USF Must immediately disclose all Israeli occupation-affiliated endowments and investments.

3. USF Ensure divestment from Israeli occupation-affiliated endowments and investments.

4. USF End all academic partnerships with the Israeli occupation.

5. USF Must protect pro-Palestine students on campus.

On this historic day, May Day, we join voices from around the globe as we honor the work of activists who came before us to fight for labor and human rights. We urge the administration and the Board of Trustees to respond expeditiously to these demands and take note of other universities who have agreed to divest from Israeli companies and programs helping to sustain these apartheid and genocidal systems, including the pioneer in this movement, Hampshire College. Let USF lead the way to justice on this issue and live, truly, our Jesuit mission. Disclose, divest, and honor our institution’s historic commitment to racial justice by continuing to work for the complete elimination of apartheid, anywhere and everywhere it exists. We won’t stop until Palestine is free!