Vassar alumni, including Sasha Velour and Ethan Slater, pressure school to divest from Israel
6/01/2024 - Hundreds of alumni disrupted Vassar Reunion this weekend, urging the institution to divest from companies involved in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
On Saturday morning, over 200 alums staged a protest at Reunion Parade, marching under the banner of “Class of Conscience” and calling on fellow graduates to withhold donations until Vassar discloses its investments and cuts ties with companies supplying Israel with weapons. Later that day, the group "Vassar Alumni for Palestine" delivered a petition to President Elizabeth Bradley titled "No Donations Until Divestment," now signed by over 1.2k alumni including drag queen Sasha Velour ('09) and actor Ethan Slater ('14).
Ethan Slater (‘14) said, “As a Jewish alum, I want to express my support for the students on campus speaking out against our school investing in entities that enable and benefit from Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. I urge my alma mater to stop conflating anti-zionism in these protests with antisemitism. It is indefensible for Vassar to support the destruction Gaza, including schools, while professing to value education for all."
Carolina Leinwand, who graduated in ‘66, urged Vassar to follow its own precedent: "In 2014 I began my alum support for Vassar students in their campaign to divest Vassar from fossil fuels. It took us years, but we were finally victorious; Vassar divested. Now students and alums are confronted with another catastrophic cause. Vassar stood on the right side of history before- let’s stand on the right side of history again. Let’s support our students as they implore: Disclose. Divest. We will not stop. We will not rest."
Vassar alumni join alumni from schools like Columbia, Brown, Princeton, and the University of Chicago, all of whom have disrupted their alma maters’ Commencement ceremonies and Reunion Weekends in recent weeks.
Vassar Alumni for Palestine states: “As we gather for reunion, we are acutely aware of the genocide occurring in Gaza. This is a moment of great moral crisis, and remaining silent is not an option. Vassar's investments in companies that provide weapons to Israel directly contradict the college’s stated support for freedom of speech and higher education. We urge all alumni, families, and supporters of Vassar College to withhold donations until the institution cuts its ties with Israel and meets the demands of students and alumni.”
A complete list of the group’s demands can be found in the petition. (tinyurl.com/vassaralumni4palestine)