On Nov. 6, UVM Students for Justice in Palestine continued their “Arms off Campus” campaign at the Engineering and Technology Fair.
SJP protested for the removal of GlobalFoundries, Marvell Technology and Simmonds Precision from the fair due to their affiliation with the Israeli Defence Force and U.S. Department of War, according to Joe Murphy, senior SJP leadership board member.
“While we did target these three companies today, our campaign in the long term is going to be focused on a general ethical standard that we want UVM to implement,” Murphy said.
Two weeks before the career fair, SJP attempted to negotiate with UVM’s Career Center and staged a protest in response to the lack of change. SJP leadership spoke with Lina Balcom, director of student life, and Career Center Director Sarah Heath, according to Murphy.
The two informed SJP that the Career Center welcomes any employer as long as they offer legitimate employment or learning opportunities and abide by both UVM Recruiting Guidelines and the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ Principles for ethical professional practice.
Murphy said that as a civically engaged university, UVM has a responsibility to uphold a certain ethical threshold.
This is SJP’s second attempt to remove companies from recruitment processes. SJP attempted to remove GlobalFoundries, RTX Corporation and the FBI from last month’s Fall Job and Internship Fair on Oct. 8, and organized protests as a result of failed negotiations.
“If we can’t find a negotiated solution, we will protest,” Murphy said.
RTX did not show up on Oct. 8, and sent a subsidiary of their company, Simmonds Precision, on Nov. 6. GlobalFoundries did not attend either career fair.
At Thursday’s Engineering and Technology Fair, SJP’s goal was education, Murphy said.
“We are not trying to agitate them for being potentially interested in any of these companies, but more so trying to educate them on what they might not know these companies are involved in,” Murphy said.
There were members stationed at every entrance to the Livak Ballroom handing out pamphlets detailing information about the companies tabling.
“The deaths listed [in the pamphlet] would not be possible without the involvement of U.S. arms and tech manufacturers and the supplies and services they provide to the IDF, who continue to murder and displace Palestinians in Gaza amid the ceasefire.”, SJP wrote in the pamphlets.
SJP is working on expanding their campaign to other organizations on campus, including Graduate Students United, UVM Staff United and United Academics, The Faculty Union at UVM, Murphy said.
“We call on students, staff, faculty, and community members to escalate all forms of pressure on the university,” stated an Oct. 10 Instagram post by SJP.
SJP plans to take the “Arms off Campus” campaign to upper-level administration, according to Murphy.
“We’re not going away anytime soon,” he said.
