University of Minnesota discloses $5 million in investments tied to Israel, defense spending

The University of Minnesota this week disclosed about $5 million in investments tied to companies based in Israel or defense contractors based in the United States, carrying out one portion of an agreement it made to end a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus.

The investments represent less than a quarter of 1 percent of the U’s $2.27 billion endowment — and they come with some caveats. The investments are in the form of stocks and bonds, and the U said they are held indirectly, through broader funds. The disclosures also focused solely on publicly traded companies. U leaders have said “other investments are protected by non-disclosure agreements or other legal constraints.”

The disclosures came days after interim U President Jeff Ettinger reached an agreement with protesters who had been calling on the U to divest from companies with ties to Israel, share information about their investments, and meet other demands. U officials didn’t comment further on the disclosure, beyond acknowledging they were fulfilling a commitment and open to further discussions. The agreement gives them until mid-May to provide additional information.

Protest leaders couldn’t immediately be reached Tuesday. They’re scheduled to make a presentation to the U’s Board of Regents on Friday. On social media, they urged people to send messages to the regents and come to the meeting to “demand divestment from Israel.”

The U appears to be one of the first colleges in the nation to disclose its investments in response to protests over the war between Hamas and Israel. College leaders find themselves under heightened scrutiny. The presidents of some colleges, including Columbia University, have been pressured to explain why they allowed police to arrest hundreds of people at protests. The leaders of some schools that struck deals, including Northwestern and Rutgers universities, have been called to testify before Congress to explain why they made concessions.

Protests at the University of Minnesota have occurred throughout the semester but accelerated two weeks ago, when people set up tents on campus and U police arrested nine of them for trespassing. A second encampment was up for four days last week and ended after organizers and U leaders negotiated an agreement that came with promises meant to ensure final exams and graduations would happen without interruptions.

Some colleges that reached similar agreements are still working to calculate how many investments they have in Israel or with defense contractors. An agreement reached at Evergreen State College in Washington called for the creation of a new task force to determine the school’s level of investments “and then develop strategies to ensure our investments/divestments are socially responsible,” school spokeswoman Kelly Von Holtz, said in an email.

That mirrors a process some other schools already had in place. Macalester College President Suzanne Rivera in April announced the creation of a Social Responsibility Committee “to examine questions raised by some students regarding the college’s investments and relationships to universities in Israel,” said school spokesman Joe Linstroth. The committee includes students, employees and alumni and is on track to produce a report this summer.

The University of Minnesota hasn’t said whether it will divest from companies with ties to Israel. The agreement did guarantee protest leaders a chance to present their case to the Board of Regents and came with a promise that the U would make a “good faith effort” to provide information about holdings in public companies by May 7, with the caveat that it could provide more supplemental material up until May 17.

The leaders of some Jewish organizations, including Hillel and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas, have urged U leaders to resist calls to divest from companies with ties to Israel, calling boycotts discriminatory.