On May 30, Palestinian solidarity encampment organizers People’s University UBC released a statement calling on the Board of Governors to have a special meeting in the next 30 days to discuss the encampment’s demands.
The Board of Governors (BoG) is UBC’s highest governing body and makes decisions about UBC’s finances and property use.
The encampment’s demands primarily target UBC Investment Management (IMANT). IMANT manages over $5 billion, between the university’s endowment, staff pension plan and other revenues.
People’s University UBC demand that IMANT revise its framework to prohibit “investments in companies operating in breach of international humanitarian law,” review “previously approved external managers with direct or indirect investments in military companies” and reassess investment managers that have holdings in companies listed at the bottom of the statement which are corporations “who invest in the Israeli genocide being perpetrated against Palestinian people.”
In a May 7 statement, UBC President Benoit-Antoine Bacon wrote that UBC's endowment fund “does not directly own any stocks in the companies identified by the movement.” Instead, “capital is held in pooled funds and managed by external investment managers.” The "identified companies," according to Bacon, account for about 0.28 per cent of the endowment fund — around $7.8 million of UBC’s $2.8 billion endowment.
People’s University UBC wrote that IMANT’s 2023 Holdings Disclosure Report indicates 0.46 per cent of the endowment is invested in 16 companies on the UN illegal settlement list, which is around $10 million. It also indicates that 0.73 per cent is invested in 16 “military companies participating in plausible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.”
“UBC has the opportunity to model a more robust and ethical endowment fund … and establishes our institution as a forerunner in addressing the most pressing human rights issues of our lifetimes,” wrote People’s University UBC.
In 2022, then-UBC President Santa Ono said UBC does not support the boycott, divest and sanction (BDS) movement which advocates for removing economic support for Israel. In a December 2023 statement and on May 28 at a House of Commons standing committee meeting, Bacon reaffirmed that UBC does not support BDS.
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Organizers also demanded BoG to submit a referral to the Vancouver Senate to approve new awards to “increase Palestinian survivors’ access to education through bursaries and other financial means.”
“As a signatory to the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment, UBC has a responsibility to uphold environmental, social, and corporate governance,” wrote People’s University UBC.
People’s University UBC also called on BoG to release an official response to its demands within 24 hours. As of 9 p.m. on May 31, no response has been released.
The Ubyssey did not hear back from UBC Media Relations by press time.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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