At approximately 2:45am on May 28, the University of California, Santa Cruz Student Union Assembly (SUA) passed a resolution calling for divestment from companies that profit from Israeli human rights violations against Palestinians with a majority vote of 22-14. While official discussion of the Divestment Bill was scheduled at 11pm, a SUA member motioned at approximately 8:15 to indefinitely table the bill. The motion failed, and the Divestment testimonials were initiated at 11:30pm.

Following the three hour debate, the first SUA vote on the resolution revealed widespread support for Divestment landing just shy of the necessary two-thirds majority. SUA representatives then voted to suspend the SUA bylaw dictating a two-thirds majority, instead requiring only a simple majority vote to pass the resolution. The resolution passed 22-14, a marked improvement over the previous 2013 UCSC Divestment Resolution, which failed 17-19.

The resolution was authored by members of the Committee for Justice in Palestine, a UCSC registered student organization, and endorsed by the UCSC chapters of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán, Autonomous Students, and the Muslim Student Association. The resolution was also endorsed by several off-campus organizations such as Boycott from Within, the Santa Cruz Palestine Israel Action Committee, and the University of Cape Town Palestine Solidarity Forum.

Read More | See Also: Committee for Justice in Palestine at UCSC Moves Divestment Bill Forward