Pitzer College’s entrance.
On Sunday, February 11th, the Pitzer College Student Senate voted to suspend Pitzer’s study abroad partnership with the University of Haifa in Israel. The resolution comes after activists renewed efforts to suspend the program in the months following Hamas’ October 7th attacks and the subsequent war in Gaza.
Claremont Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace spearheaded the resolution. The student resolution demands that Pitzer suspend its partnership with the University of Haifa and all other Israeli universities until they “end their complicity in Israeli apartheid and ethnic cleansing.” According to the resolution, “Israeli universities are complicit in the Israeli state’s regime of oppression against Palestinians.”
In response, Pitzer College said the “Student Senate does not speak for the College, nor does it represent the views of all Pitzer students.”
“The president will not accept—if and when that time comes—any resolution antithetical to [the principles of academic freedom and safe and productive learning],” the statement concluded, indicating the President might oppose the resolution.
College activists have long wished to suspend Pitzer’s study abroad in Israel. In 2018, the Faculty Senate and College Council voted to suspend study abroad at the University of Haifa. Then-president Melvin Oliver vetoed the resolution.