UW senate approves motions to address encampment protestors’ demands
At a special meeting on Monday, the University of Waterloo (UW) senate approved three motions that support the school’s efforts to improve transparency around its investment policies.
The university believes the motions align with the demands of pro-Palestinian protestors who have made an encampment on campus, calling for the school to disclose and divest from any companies or institutions that support the war in Gaza.
Nick Manning, Associate VP, Communications at UW told CityNews the work on these motions actually began prior to the protest.
“We had commitments in early May to improve the information we disclose about our current investment portfolios,” he said.
Monday’s vote simply showed the senate supported the work that was already underway.
In an email to CityNews 570, the university detailed what was included in the motions:
1. Motion regarding investment disclosure
“That Senate recommend that the Board of Governors annually disclose a comprehensive report of all investments and holdings in an open session of the Board of Governors or one of its committees as appropriate, with the first report being issued no later than the First Quarter of 2025.”
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2. Motion regarding institutional partnerships
“That the Senate formally express support for the establishment of a defined set of principles and framework to guide approaches to institutional partnerships, which are reflective of University of Waterloo values.”
3. Motion regarding Environmental, Social and Governance factors
“That Senate recommend that the Board of Governors include and implement social justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, nonviolence, and international human rights as priority areas in the Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) factors, and that Senate recommend an annual update report be provided on progress towards said inclusion and implementation within the University’s investment portfolios, in an open session of either the Board of Governors or one of its committees as appropriate, with the first update to be brought forward no later than one year from the date of passage of this motion.”
Manning said with these motions now solidified, the school believes the demands of the protestors have been met and it time for the encampment to break-up.
“We’ve been very clear, we believe these are fair, reasonable and appropriate actions that address the concerns our community has been raising for a very long time,” he said. “The university respects everybody’s right to express themselves and exercise that right as they see fit, but we encourage the encampment to end their presence.”
Noticeably absent from the motions was a solid divestment commitment. It remains to be seen if the protestors feel their demands have been met.
