University of Georgia students, faculty, and staff not only stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine and student movements across the nation advocating for Palestinian liberation, but we are committed to upholding a front of resistance at UGA and holding our institution responsible for its complicity and unwavering support of genocide.

We call on UGA to issue an unwavering statement of solidarity with the Palestinian people and impacted Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian students, faculty, and staff of this campus. UGA administration has ignored, and thus actively facilitated, "Israel's" genocide in Palestine for seven months now. UGA has neglected calls for support from the students this institution claims to serve.

On October 12th, President Morehead sent an email to all students, faculty, and staff addressing the attack on the Israeli occupation. Morehead’s letter consistently used one-sided and blatant bias that went far enough to attack pro-Palestine student organizations and associate their ideals and advocacy efforts with unjust groups. Since then, Morehead has not uttered a word regarding the Israeli occupation’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. President Morehead and his office have ignored multiple attempts to schedule a meeting with Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students despite waiting less than a week from October 7th to schedule a meeting with UGA Hillel.

The President's refusal to stand in solidarity with Palestine demonstrates the apparent position of the Morehead administration: total and unconditional support for the U.S.-backed Zionist occupation.

Over 34,000 Palestinians have been murdered. Our community members are experiencing unimaginable suffering, fearing for the lives of our friends and relatives every day as we watch our University remain silent. We demand an immediate acknowledgment of the Israeli occupation’s genocide of Palestinians and a statement of solidarity with the Palestinian people. How many more lives does the Israeli occupation have to take for our university to care?

We call on UGA to institute university policies enshrining protection for pro-Palestine speech, activism, lectures, and campaigns on campus, including the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Additionally, we call on UGA to institute policies that protect Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students from racist violence, doxxing, and other threats to personal safety on campus.

In light of the escalating genocide since October 7th in the occupied Palestinian territory, the lack of proactive measures taken by the University of Georgia has caused significant problems. This university has failed to create an atmosphere of inclusivity and safety for marginalized communities. Furthermore, the absence of decisive action has resulted in an intolerable increase in targeted and pervasive harassment on campus, depriving students of their fundamental right to education and impeding their full participation in academic and social life.

It is disheartening to note that the University of Georgia has failed to respond to these concerns being raised by its own students, faculty, staff, and alumni. It has failed to respond to the concerns of civil liberties groups and campus organizations nationwide who are calling for increased protection of student rights. UGA has failed in its mission to protect its students and failed to adhere to the University System of Georgia's core value of academic freedom. This university's leadership has decidedly not "foster[ed] an environment where all people are free to share ideas and opinions." Therefore, we rise in solidarity to demand prompt action to resolve these issues.

We call on UGA to disclose all of its investments and other financial relationships and demand an immediate divestment from all firms complicit in the genocide in Palestine. American and "Israeli" firms in industries as diverse as arms manufacturing, banking, construction, and agribusiness play critical roles in furthering the occupation and Zionist settler-colonialism. We demand the University disclose all of its investments and immediately end all financial ties with corporate/financial entities complicit in the ongoing occupation. NOT A CENT OF OUR TUITION DOLLARS FOR GENOCIDE!

We also call on UGA to institute a full academic boycott of "Israeli" institutions, starting with the prompt termination of the UGA Terry StudyAway program in the Israeli occupation. The program's itinerary lists several visits to UN-recognized occupied Palestinian territory, including a trip to Ariel University, located in one of the largest illegal settlements in the West Bank. The program itself serves to whitewash the Israeli Occupation’s history of ethnic cleansing and apartheid, totally erasing Palestinians' existence. "Israeli" universities play a crucial role in planning, implementing, and justifying Zionist policies of occupation and apartheid while also repressing Palestinian professors' and students' freedom of expression. Thus. We demand that UGA cut ALL ties with "Israeli" academic institutions as part of a broader pressure campaign to force the Zionist entity to end the occupation.