The New School’s Board of Trustees has voted against divestment from military industry companies, not accepting the Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility (ACIR) recommendation, according to an email from President Joel Towers reflecting on the past year. 

In President Towers’ university-wide statement, he expressed gratitude to the Board of Trustees for their work in raising $18 million in funding throughout this semester, considering the ACIR proposal, and providing an outcome on their deliberations. 

“I believe this is the correct action. The securities that have been the focus of the divestment discussion are not held in the endowment in any meaningful way. As the ACIR has pointed out, our blended portfolio has a de minimis (0.07%) exposure to the identified stocks,” Towers said, regarding the board’s decision not to pursue divestment. 

He stated that ultimately there is “nothing to divest from” and emphasized that the board’s decision is motivated by “honoring the educational mission” of the university.

This decision comes after eight months of deliberations, recommendations from the ACIR, and student and faculty demonstrations calling for complete divestment from companies involved in active humanitarian violence in Gaza, Israel, and the West Bank. 

The ACIR’s initial report, released at the end of September, evaluated 13 companies such as BAE Systems, Boeing, General Dynamics, and Lockheed Martin, advising that it was possible to divest from those companies. 

In early October, the ACIR Co-Chair and Assistant Professor of Strategic Design and Management, Jen van der Meer, met with the TNS community where she broke down the ACIR’s findings, stating that divestment would be financially possible.

Meer stated that moving forward with divestment “too quickly” could pose potential financial risks but reassured the community that it could still be a possibility. 

Towers ended his statement by stating, “Together we will address the challenges ahead through our commitment to education and a shared understanding that our charge is to build The New School of our time.”