Disclaimer: SGA president Dhruvak Mirani is a former Diamondback opinion columnist.
University of Maryland president Darryll Pines wrote in a memo that he was disappointed SGA held a vote for a boycott, divestment and sanctions resolution on the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur.
At its general body meeting Oct. 1, the Student Government Association passed a resolution urging this university and its charitable foundation to disassociate from corporations, institutions and academic entities that “support or profit from Israel’s regime of apartheid and occupation.”
SGA legislators passed the resolution on Yom Kippur, which sparked outrage from this university’s Jewish community and outside advocacy organizations. Some said they felt the move affected their ability to participate in SGA’s democratic process.
SGA allowed proxy voting and opened a form for students to submit concerns with the resolution. It also held two committee meetings in the days before the legislature’s vote for student perspectives. Only SGA legislators were able to vote on the resolution on Oct. 1.
The university president wrote in a memo to SGA president Dhruvak Mirani that the group was not being “as inclusive as possible and as accommodating as possible.”
“We hope that going forward, the SGA will be more inclusive with broader stakeholder groups of the community,” Pines told The Diamondback Wednesday.
[UMD SGA passes boycott, divestment and sanctions resolution on Yom Kippur]
Pines and Mirani discussed the vote’s timing during one of their regularly scheduled meetings on Monday. The university president sent the memo after the meeting. The university’s assistant president and chief of staff, Blakely Pomietto, also signed off on the memo.
In it, Pines wrote that he recognized that SGA is a self-governing body and that the organization followed its bylaws by allowing proxy voting. But Pines wrote he was disappointed the vote still happened on Yom Kippur against university administration’s advice.
Mirani said he set the agenda for his meeting with Pines and designated a portion of it to talking about the implications of the vote.
“I agree with the specific sentiment that we should be mindful of religious obligations,” Mirani said when The Diamondback asked how he felt about the memo. “I think the point is well taken, but it’s not necessarily the administration’s point to make.”
Mirani and SGA speaker of the legislature Diego Henriquez supported tabling the resolution last week so voting would occur after the holiday. But the motion to table failed with only two legislators voting in favor.
In a statement to The Diamondback, SGA executive vice president Riona Sheikh said there is a “double standard” when it comes to issues faced by Muslim students.
“Where was this ‘disappointment’ during the numerous times in the past when divestment votes were held during Ramadan and Eid?” Sheikh wrote. “Was there no need for a more inclusive vote then?”
[UMD SGA to consider boycott, divestment and sanctions resolution]
The memo also emphasized that SGA resolutions have no impact on university policy or practice and requested that Mirani share the contents of the memo with other SGA members. Sheikh wrote that the resolutions “undoubtedly have impacts on administration’s policies.”
“This is a shield they use to give themselves a false sense of security and a weak attempt to discourage students and the SGA from making our pro-human rights stance clear,” Sheikh wrote.
Mirani told The Diamondback that he did not expect Pines to ask him to share a message with SGA.
Mirani presented a screenshot of the memo from Pines during the SGA’s general body meeting Wednesday night for the legislature to read. He told members that university administration was asking about moving the date the resolution was voted on for multiple weeks.
Any SGA follow-up initiatives or actions depend on the resolution’s sponsors, Mirani said.
When asked about the administrators’ memo, resolution co-sponsor Daniela Colombi told The Diamondback in a statement that “we have the utmost responsibility and urgency to fight against the US-Israeli siege, occupation, and genocide.”
“Palestine needs total liberation, ceasefire is ridiculously below the bare minimum,” the computer, mathematical and natural sciences college representative wrote.
Zyad Khan, the resolution’s other co-sponsor, declined to comment.
Assistant news editor and administration reporter Sam Gauntt interviewed university president Darryll Pines for this story.
