The Undergraduate Students Association Council unanimously approved a change to its bylaws Tuesday that freezes the transfer of funds into its endowment until the UC divests from companies participating “in the violation of human rights.”
The amendment, proposed May 28 by Cultural Affairs Commissioner Alicia Verdugo, makes changes to Article VII – which concerns finance – of the USA Bylaws. The change will prevent funds from the council’s endowment from being invested into corporations engaged in “violations of international law and human rights.”
Verdugo and USAC Finance Committee Chair Lucy Yin did not respond to requests for comment.
According to the council’s bylaws, the Council Programming Endowment is an investment fund maintained by UCLA Development, a university-run fundraising program. A portion of surplus funding is allocated by the council to the endowment. The council then collects returns from the fund, allocating half of the returns to the USA Programming Fund and the other half to its contingency fund.
The council previously passed a resolution Feb. 12 endorsing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel and calling on the University to divest from companies with ties to the Israeli military, which has killed over 36,000 Palestinians in its ongoing war with Palestinian political party and militant group Hamas since Oct. 7, according to the Associated Press.
