The Academic Senate at San Diego City College passed a resolution on March 9 calling for the San Diego Community College District to put an end to all ties with companies connected to human rights violations.
Students from organizations on campus such as Students for Justice in Palestine, MEChA and El Activism y Kultura Klub filled the meeting room from front to end, urging senators to vote in favor of the resolution.
The public comment period had to be extended because of the overwhelming amount of statements made.
Students argued that as corporate council members, these organizations influence what SDCCD prioritizes in terms of what degrees and certifications are offered as well as which courses are taught.
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“So we must ask ourselves, do we accept that input?” Daniel Airozo, a veteran and student, said in a public comment, “so they can use City College as their personal training pipeline?”
Senators asked freshman student Aivany Zuzueta, who drafted the resolution, questions regarding what actions the Corporate Council Members are doing that warrants ending ties with them.
It then passed in a unanimous vote.
Zuzueta, who describes herself as a humanitarian, said she adjusted the original resolution draft that was endorsed by the Associated Student Government earlier this spring as a divestment resolution to a proposal on improving ethical standing by the district.
Divestment is when a business sells off its subsidiaries, investments, or other assets for a financial, ethical, or political objective, according to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute.
While City Times obtained a photo of the original resolution, it has not yet confirmed whether that resolution was formally presented and voted upon in an open meeting.
The ASG public relations officer said in an interview with City Times that she did her research into the issue on the campus website, while the resolution cites the district website.
“(In her research), I saw a lot of ties to corporations that are funding the militarization of Israel’s ongoing genocide to Palestinian-occupied territories,” Zuzueta said in the interview. “I just feel that we have an obligation to speak on that and try and find more suitable solutions. That way, we … make sure we’re being more intentional with how we’re contributing to humanity.”
In changing the resolution to reflect the unknown impact on classrooms and curriculum the SDCCD Corporate Council has on City College and the wish to “terminate partnerships or contracts by eliminating all ties with companies and organizations with human rights violations as defined by the United Nations,” Zuzueta has found a connection others were not aware of.
“So until this resolution, we didn’t know, because divestment is kind of different than what this is,” Academic Senate President Mona Alsoraimi-Espiritu said. “This is not really a divestment resolution, right? I’m assuming they might be giving us money for scholarships. Also, according to the (district) website, they could be having some kind of impact on the way our programs are run.”
City Times reached out to the district on Thursday, March 12 to confirm the nature of the relationship between these companies and SDCCD and is awaiting a response.
The resolution had overwhelming support from students, with multiple student clubs endorsing it.
Student clubs publicly endorsing the proposal include The Bird Alliance, Cycle Care Club, El Artivism y Kultura Klub, The Film Club, The Native American Organization Club, MEChA, The Music Club, The Muslim Student Association, Students for Housing Justice and Students for Justice in Palestine.
This story was edited by Chrisdan Peralta and Itzel Martinez.