Earlham College Student Senate Passes Divestment Resolution

By JTA April 29, 2015

(JTA) — The Student Senate at Earlham College, a liberal arts school in Indiana, passed an Israel divestment resolution.

The resolution, which passed last week by consensus, calls for divestment from three companies that operate in the West Bank: Motorola Solutions, Hewlett Packard and Caterpillar.

The Student Senate “agreed that passing the resolution was in line with Earlham’s Principles and Practices as well as the mission of Earlham Student Government,” said Laura Honsig, the senate’s clerk.

The resolution was presented by the campus organization Boycott Divestment Sanctions Earlham. Members of the Jewish Cultural Center supported the measure.

“Supporting the resolution is part of our attempt to live up to the values that shape who we are as a community,” Student Senate Co-Presidents Claire Welsh and Hashem AbuSham’a said in a statement.

It was the third time in two years that such a resolution has come before the student government of the 1,200-student school, which was founded by Quakers in 1847.

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