

Students rallied outside TIAA-CREF to call for divestment on Monday (Photo courtesy of We Divest coalition)

Students from New York City colleges rallied Monday outside the headquarters of a national pension fund to pressure the company to divest from corporations profiting from the Israeli occupation.

Pension fund TIAA-CREF has cash invested in companies like Caterpillar and Northrop Grumman, both of which do extensive business with the Israeli military.

Annie Robbins has some background here:

Many students entering into the medical field, careers in academia, or any number of non-profit organizations are aware TIAA-CREF, with more than $2 billion invested in corporations that profit from Israel’s military occupation of Palestine, may be securing their future retirement. This presents a moral road block for them entering into the job market. Students and shareholders know they have the power to influence TIAA-CREF’s investment practices.

The students from Hunter College, Columbia, Brooklyn College, Rutgers and more delivered a letter to TIAA-CREF spelling out their demands. The letter to Robert Leary, executive vice president of TIAA-CREF, reads in part:

We are students from colleges throughout the New York metropolitan area, representing chapters from Students for Justice in Palestine. We are future doctors, lawyers, teachers, professors, and non-profit employees. As future professionals, we are also future pension holders and potential TIAA-CREF clients. We have come to know TIAA-CREF through its presence at our schools. We know that TIAA-CREF prides itself on its dedication to socially responsible investing. We are therefore gravely concerned with TIAA-CREF’s investments in corporations that profit from egregious human rights abuses towards Palestinians. These human rights abuses are in violation of international and US law, and the investments total more than $2 billion, including funds in TIAA-CREF’s social choice portfolio. As future professionals, we want a retirement plan that genuinely upholds a socially responsible policy. We want the option to retire without investments in the Israeli occupation or any other humanitarian atrocity. On February 7th, more than 200 shareholders filed a resolution to divest from Veolia, a corporation that provides segregated transportation services to Israeli settlers living on Palestinian land in the West Bank. We have been paying close attention to developments since the filing, including TIAA-CREF’s challenging of the resolution to the SEC. TIAA-CREF’s refusal to give this resolution a chance for a vote contradicts its stated commitment to socially responsible investing and shareholder advocacy. The outcome of this legal battle will greatly impact our view of TIAA-CREF in our future professional lives. TIAA-CREF’s actions determine whether or not it will be a viable option for our future retirements. Ultimately, we will remember whether or not TIAA-CREF demonstrated a commitment to socially responsible investing in Israel-Palestine.

The student action comes almost a month after Columbia University staff and students joined the divestment campaign targeting TIAA-CREF.

Mondoweiss was sent some photos of the action: