Rutgers President: We Will Not Sever Tel Aviv University Deal

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — On Monday, Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway vigorously defended his decision to negotiate with Palestinian solidarity protesters who pitched tents on the Rutgers campus for a total of four days last week.

In this address he gave to the Rutgers Board of Governors, which convened an emergency meeting Monday, Holloway defended Rutgers' decision to accept eight of the 10 demands from the student protesters.

However, what Rutgers did not accept is a demand from some students to kill a deal to have Tel Aviv University open a satellite campus at Rutgers.

"There appears to be a misunderstanding about our relationship with Tel Aviv University. We were asked to sever that relationship. We will not. Period," Holloway told the Board of Governors Monday.

Secondly, Rutgers also did not agree to students' request to divest from all financial involvement/investments with the nation of Israel. While that request is currently "under review," Holloway said Monday:

"While it is not within my authority to make a decision regarding divestment, I will reiterate again that I believe the Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement is wrong. I think divestment from Israel is wrong," said Holloway. "Some people have wrongly come to believe that Rutgers agreed to divest from companies that do business in Israel. We did not. We have a policy already in place for investment decisions and we are adhering to it and the process that flows from it."

"We did agree to meet with the students who made the request and nothing more," said the university president.

Tel Aviv University plans to open a satellite campus in the highly anticipated Innovation & Technology Hub, the massive new science/tech building Gov. Phil Murphy is backing.

Construction on the Hub is currently underway. When finished, it will be a 10-story, $665 million complex directly across from the NJ Transit/Amtrak train station in the heart of New Brunswick. Rutgers, Princeton University, Hackensack Meridian and RWJBarnabas will all have offices at the Hub. In November 2021, Tel Aviv University announced they will be the Hub's first international tenant, and will rent office, classroom and lab space.

NJ Jewish groups criticize Rutgers for agreeing to student demands, threaten to cut off funding

The Rutgers Board of Governors called that "special" (their word) meeting because also Monday more than 700 people who describe themselves as "members of the Rutgers Jewish community" signed a letter sent to Holloway, warning they would withhold "donations and financial support" from Rutgers unless it rescinds its agreement on the eight other accords with the student protesters. This is according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, which obtained a copy of that letter.

The four largest Jewish federations in New Jersey (they were not named) called Holloway's agreement with the students "a shameful capitulation of Rutgers to the pro-Hamas encampment." They are calling for the state of New Jersey to investigate and for the state of New Jersey to withhold state funding from Rutgers.

Here are the eight demands Holloway agreed to: Rutgers Agrees To 8 Demands From Pro-Gaza Protesters

The following is a shortened excerpt of the remarks Holloway gave to the Rutgers Board of Governors May 6:

"This is among the most divisive times in higher education ... For weeks we have watched universities struggle to respond to unrest and violence on campuses across America. Schools that appear stable one day are overwhelmed the next.

I want to talk about how it is at Rutgers.

The protest began on Monday as a statement regarding Palestine and the war in Gaza. At first it was peaceful.

But by Thursday morning, this year’s protest had become disruptive.

Some people have said I should have engaged police to clear the protest and arrest those who resisted. We were prepared to do so. I am grateful that we did not have to.

By Thursday afternoon, the mall was an unstable mixture of protesters and counter-protesters that we have seen far too often on other campuses. Some participants were our own students, faculty and staff; others were outsiders in pursuit of their own goals and ambitions. It was clear to me that we had to take some action before the situation veered toward violence.

People have said we should not have engaged in discussions with the protesters. What I say to that is that we talked with Rutgers students. They asked for consideration of several requests that concern academic and student affairs — a cultural center, trainings, course offerings. The chancellor’s Advisory Council on Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian Life, comprised of faculty, staff and students, will address those requests.

We were asked to establish a relationship with Birzeit University (a university in the West Bank). We already have one. It has been in place since 2022.

Since Voorhees Mall was cleared, I have received thousands of emails in which people express their frustration or dismay. To everyone who wrote, I hear you. I know that many of the decisions we made last week are challenging.

I am confident in our decisions ... The result of our actions was a peaceful return to the normal course of business."

Read Holloway's entire May 6 address to the Rutgers Board of Governors

Students Leave Peacefully From Rutgers Pro-Gaza Tent Protest (May 2)