MSU investments in Israel violate school's values, mission, some faculty say

EAST LANSING — Michigan State University faculty members are pushing back against the university's justification for maintaining financial ties to Israel amid the nearly year-long Israel-Hamas war.

"Our investments right now do not promote MSU's mission and values," said Alexandra Allweiss, an assistant professor in the college of education.

Allweiss pointed to language in the mission statement, approved by the Board of Trustees in April 2008, that says the university's mission is to advance knowledge and transform lives by "advancing outreach, engagement, and economic development activities that are innovative, research-driven, and lead to a better quality of life for individuals and communities, at home and around the world."

Faculty who support cutting all financial ties to Israel wrote an open letter to the MSU Faculty Senate , after it tabled a resolution calling for the university to divest. More than 170 faculty members signed the letter, about 6% of the total faculty body, joining a coalition of students groups called Hurriya and other community members who are calling for divestment.

Jack Lipton, chair of the Faculty Senate for the 2023-24 academic year, said he wasn't sure if any senator would bring the resolution up for a vote this year. The Associated Students of MSU and the Council of Graduate Students both approved resolutions calling for the university to divest.

After Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,200 people and took more than 250 others hostage during an Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Israeli troops attacked Gaza , and have killed nearly 38,000 of the more than 2 million Palestinians living there as of July, NBC News reported .

Since the beginning of the war, many MSU students, community members and faculty have been calling for the university to divest from investments that profit from Israeli companies or those that do business with Israel, similar to the way the university pulled back from South Africa over Apartheid decades ago.

"These past 10 months have been surreal..." said Waseem El-Rayes, an associate professor in MSU's James Madison College. "I wake up to news of massacres of people in so-called 'safe zones', and then I talk to the investment office and administration and told it doesn't matter."

El-Rayes has lost more than 20 family members in Gaza over the last 10 months, and he believes the university isn't listening to the community in favor of making money from investments.

Philip Zecher, the university's chief investment officer, told journalists during a virtual "Lunch and Learn" event that MSU does not have an active flow of money to Israel. Instead, the university receives money from Israel because of a 2023 State of Israel bond purchase by an MSU representative.

Zecher explained that, in 2003, Israel sought $4 billion from U.S. banks. Israel will repay the bonds over 30 years, making payments to bond holders, including an investment manager working on behalf of MSU that purchased $200,000 of the investment in 2023.

Because MSU holds a piece of the bond, Israel will make quarterly payments for 10 more years, unless the investment manager sells the portion held by MSU.

But faculty calling for divestment say Zecher isn't telling the full story.

"When an institution like MSU takes on the sovereign bond, the institution has a material stake in the success of the state," said Jennifer Goett, an associate professor in MSU's James Madison College. "Because we are being paid by them, we are invested in Israel's economy doing well."

The faculty members also said the Board of Trustees is going against its own bylaws by refusing to divest. The official investment policy adopted by the board states "the Board will exhibit social conscience in the administration of the University’s investments." Faculty say there's a contradiction between that statement and what Zecher and other members of the school's administration have told them.

Zecher said the university has no ability to control what it invests in. Outside investment managers working on behalf of MSU choose groups of investments based on various criteria, such as the age of the bond.

"If they're interested in socially responsible investments, why are they saying they have no control over the investments?" El-Rayes said. "It's hypocritical and disappointing."

The university's investment policy does not specify what "social conscience," means.

"We were told there was no clear mandate," Allweiss said. "We're asking for one to be made."

Contact Sarah Atwood at satwood@lsj.com. Follow her on X @sarahmatwood .

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU investments in Israel violate school's values, mission, some faculty say