UCSB Student Senate issues resolution calling for defense contractor divestment and financial disclosures

ISLA VISTA, Calif. – On Wednesday, the 75th Student Senate at UC Santa Barbara passed a resolution demanding the divestment of the university from defense companies, compliance with public records requests, public disclosure of administrator's financial information, and additional outreach with the student body.

Following public testimony over the proposed resolution, the associated student legislative body voted 18 Yes, four No, and 2 abstaining shared Marcy Winograd, co-chair of the Central Coast Antiwar Coalition which has partnered with an on-campus encampment at UCSB.

According to the resolution, UC Santa Barbara accepted $18.3 million in sponsorships for research grants and $3.32 million in private philanthropic donations in the past academic year from defense-based corporations that the resolution links to the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and global resource extraction efforts.

"UC Santa Barbara does not conduct classified or weapons research. Such research would carry dissemination restrictions that are generally not acceptable, and we have no record of performing weapons development and research on campus," responded UC Santa Barbara Media Relations Manager Kiki Reyes when contacted for comment on the divestment demands. "The campus conducts fundamental research under export control regulations, which allows for the open publication, dissemination, and use of research information. Campus research results are publishable and available for public use."

The resolution detailed that UCSB received 277 research grants from entities associated with the Department of Defense, totaling $187.7 million.

The relationship between the University and defense contractors was highlighted in a letter issued to the University's administration by the UCSB Gaza Solidarity Encampment demanding the divestment from those companies.

"The University has strongly and consistently opposed calls for a boycott against and divestment from Israel," explained Reyes. "This has been the longstanding position of the UC Office of the President and the chancellors of every campus. This non-binding student resolution runs counter to the position of the University of California and UC Santa Barbara. The university stands firm in the conviction that a boycott and resolution of this kind poses a direct and serious threat to the academic freedom of our students and faculty and to the unfettered exchange of ideas and perspectives on our campuses."

Public records requests were submitted on Apr. 8, 2021, and again on Mar. 9, 2024, detailed Winograd and the full compliance with those requests was demand #4 in Wednesday's resolution.

In response to those California Public Records Act requests, the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) released copies of some of its contracts with major defense contractors including Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, and RTX (formerly known as Raytheon).

The University's Public Records Office noted that potentially 398 contracts matched the materials requested, but stated that it had no records of existing contracts with Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, nor Northrop Grumman.

All three of those entities are currently listed as Corporate Affiliates Program participants on the College of Engineering's Industry Center webpage.

Approximately $32 billion in assets owned by the University of California system -constituting nearly one-fifth of the system's total assets- have also been targeted in the divestment demands for their connections with defense contractors.

The Office of President of the University of California system issued a statement on Apr. 26 of this year regarding earlier calls for divestment stating, "The University of California has consistently opposed calls for boycott against and divestment from Israel. While the University affirms the right of our community members to express diverse viewpoints, a boycott of this sort impinges on the academic freedom of our students and faculty and the unfettered exchange of ideas on our campuses. UC tuition and fees are the primary funding sources for the University’s core operations. None of these funds are used for investment purposes. Through careful management of the University’s retirement and endowment funds, UC Investments provides a stable and growing revenue stream that benefits current and retired employees and supports the University’s education, research, and public service mission."

Demands for divestment by students in the UC system are not uncommon.

In 1986, the UC Board of Regents voted to divest $3.1 billion from companies collaborating with South Africa's apartheid government following student protests and the system also divested from fossil fuel assets in 2020.

On May 20, 2024, the University's Public Records Office released 24 PDFs of contract awards and purchase orders between 2016 and 2021 that your News Channel has not been able to independently verify.

"I was inspired to submit my CPRA requests in 2021 and 2024 for copies of UCSB weapons contracts, prioritizing Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, to obtain evidence of UCSB complicity in militarism. I wanted to raise awareness about the need to demilitarize our public university for a sustainable life-affirming future," explained Winograd, who authored those public records requests. "Weapons contractors are exploiting UCSB engineering students for cheap labor to construct new weapons systems to kill and colonize more people and to pollute the earth with contamination of land, air and water. This is wrong. We can right the wrong, though, if we organize —and support those on campus demanding disclosure, divestment and demilitarization, if we build a powerful peace movement in the 24th congressional district and beyond."  

This week, CNN confirmed the use of US-made, California-manufactured weapons in an IDF strike at Kuwait Peace Camp 1 near Rafah which resulted in the deaths of at least 45 people and injuries for over 200. 

The resolution also demanded that UCSB's administration publicly disclose all UC-system retirement and pension programs, the general endowment pool, the short-term investment pool, the total-return pool, and the UC Foundation's public and private holdings.

Additionally, the resolution demanded that the administration at UC Santa Barbara also publicly disclose the personal tax returns as well as documentation of any official representation that may serve on financial or education boards outside of the UC system for the UCSB Chancellor, all Vice Chancellors, and all UCSB Board of Trustees members.