Some University of Maryland students protested defense contractors present at the annual STEM career fair held in The Hotel on Thursday.
Several students stood outside the career fair to protest against companies such as Lockheed Martin, Boeing and General Dynamics. Others handed out fliers with information about defense companies’ contributions to weapons used in international conflict.
Protesters also asked career fair attendees to sign a pledge that they will “not work for any companies complicit in human rights abuses.” The demonstration was hosted by university organizations affiliated with the Anti-Imperialist Movement, a coalition of student organizations dedicated to fighting “imperialism and the U.S. war machine on our campus and abroad.”
Elijah Emley, chair of this university’s Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines chapter, said protestors were angry about this university welcoming defense companies that promote themselves as good places to work, even though they make some students feel unsafe.
The senior environmental science and technology major said this university prepares students to work for “companies that profit directly off of violence, like the genocide thats happening in Palestine and the counterinsurgency in the Philippines.”
University president Darryll Pines told The Diamondback on Wednesday there is no filter on which corporations or government agencies are allowed to attend career fairs.
“If you take this Middle East conflict out of the picture, we, the United States, and our University of Maryland students who need jobs, have worked at Department of Defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, who have come for decades,” Pines said. “We do have that offer to our students, because they get good jobs at those particular employers.”
[UMD alters language of Stamp’s multicultural involvement, community advocacy webpage]
Senior aerospace engineering major Abi Nedun said he spoke with companies including TRX Systems, Boeing and Lockheed Martin at the career fair. He said this university cannot overlook defense companies, especially because of their donations and their influence in terms of infrastructure and funding.
Nedun said many aerospace students want good job security and can find that with them. He said the vast majority of people are not willing to take a chance on a smaller startup, whereas defense companies offer good salaries and job stability.
Alexa Boltax handed out flyers with College Park Mutual Aid and the university’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter. She hoped to connect with students and spread awareness.
Boltax, a senior religions of the ancient Middle East major, said institutions like this university set a precedent of moral corruption by accepting companies with “blood on their hands” as employers. She wanted to provide a different point of view to students.
“Just because the institution has become insanely morally corrupt, it doesn’t mean that as individuals that we have to,” Boltax said. “We can stand in opposition to this and it’s not crazy radical, it’s just trying to be moral.”
In a statement to The Diamondback on Wednesday, this university wrote that it does not engage in viewpoint discrimination when reviewing corporations or government agencies at university career fairs.
“Employers seeking to recruit through our events must meet specific criteria, including compliance with all federal, state, and local laws, alignment with campus programs, and adherence to ethical recruitment practices,” the statement read.
[SGA resolution demands UMD recognize Israel’s offensive in Gaza as genocide]
This university has had a multimillion dollar relationship with defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Those companies which gave more than $46 million combined to this university from 2010 to November 2023, The Diamondback reported last year.
Nevan McMillian, a sophomore mechanical engineering major and member of this university’s Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines chapter, said there are many job options for engineering students besides defense companies. But those options are hard to find at this university due to all of the sponsorships from the defense companies, he added.
“I wish [this university] would find new corporate sponsors, new endowments from different, more ethical companies,” McMillian said. “There’s a lot of civil engineering companies here, there’s a lot of biotechnical engineering companies here, so there’s a lot more options outside defense.”
Scott Corbett, sophomore computer engineering major, said that the ethical issues echoed in the protests were something good to be brought to her attention. She was planning to speak with Lockheed Martin. But after Corbett looked at some of the protests, she said she realized there are other more ethical options.
“It’s definitely worth it to start divesting against some of these companies because then it’ll start promoting even smaller internships or other places worth diverting funding,” Corbett said.
Assistant news editor and administration reporter Sam Gauntt interviewed university president Darryll Pines for this story.
