For over two years, York University student activists have supported  a new campaign to divest from weapons manufacturers. YUDivest campaign aims to gather political support around campus to get the York University Board of Governors to fully divest from companies such as BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Hewlett Packard, Amphenol, FLIR Systems and Textron which have contributed to the University’s endowment fund. Organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the American Friends Service Community (AFSC) have already extensively documented the number of deaths and the sheer destruction caused by products manufactured by these companies. Over the last 20 years, they have destroyed the lives of thousands innocent people in wars spanning in every corner of the globe. As a result, York University’s Graduate Students Association divested from BAE, Hewlett-Packard, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin in 2012 citing its  “human rights violations, war crimes and oppression” according to the AFSC.

In its 2014 Annual Report, Amphenol reported that sales of products such as its interconnect systems and antennas to the military market represented 11% of the company’s net sales for the year. As noted in the report, such technology is crucial to the functioning of ground vehicles, tanks, naval vessels, radar systems and the avionics systems used in aircraft and unmanned aerial drones. In a May 2016 Investor presentation, FLIR Systems reported $1.6 billion in revenue, much of which came from surveillance in addition to advanced imaging and radar systems utilized by varied military equipment. Textron, another company that York University has invested in, has an entire division dedicated to aerospace and defense development known as Textron Systems, which in 2012 reported sales of $1.7 billion. Textron Systems manufacture weapon and surveillance systems along with unmanned aerial drones. In a 2015 series of articles by the Intercept entitled “The Drone Papers”, it was revealed through leaked classified documents that United States drone bombing campaigns used in countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia have led to the deaths of thousands of innocent civilians with a casualty rate as high as ninety percent in some cases.  Textron also produces cluster bombs, a type of bomb outlawed by the Convention of Cluster Munitions, which boasts a 118-country membership. According to Human Rights Watch,  the bombs that Textron produces have led to the deaths of countless innocent civilians across the globe in 2015.

These campaigns were highly criticized in a New York Times Op-ed by Jimmy Carter, former U.S. President and founder of the Carter Center, an NGO dedicated  to finding “peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development,” a goal for which it won the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize. “Despite an arbitrary rule that any man killed by drones is declared an enemy terrorist, the death of nearby innocent women and children is accepted as inevitable… We don’t know how many hundreds of innocent civilians have been killed in these attacks, each one is approved by the highest authorities in Washington. This would have been unthinkable in previous times. These policies clearly affect American foreign policy. Top intelligence and military officials, as well as rights defenders in targeted areas affirm that the great escalation in drone attacks has turned aggrieved families toward terrorist organizations, aroused civilian populations against us and permitted repressive governments to cite such actions to justify their own despotic behavior,” stated Mr. Carter in 2012. Despite the long campaigns by various organizations to end such activity,  such unfortunate policies continue. As of 2016, Canada has become the second-largest arms dealer to the Middle East after the United States of America.

Given these findings, the students of York University have found it appalling that their university would invest in such endeavors, especially considering the way York markets itself as “the social justice university.” Saeed Rahnema, an award winning professor of political science and equity studies at York University said in a statement to Excalibur, York University’s newspaper that “The university should find ways to contribute to efforts towards peace and avoid any involvement with anything that has to do with military and war.” Ghada Sassa, a Graduate Student in Environmental Studies who has been at the heart of many endorsement efforts, echoed similar concerns: “Students, faculty and staff at York University will be shocked when they find out that our school has invested in arms companies, especially since our community is so diverse and many members have families that are affected by war. By calling for divestment, we ask the York University Board of Governors to cut its ties from an industry that profits from war and destruction and uphold its commitment to social justice.”

So far, the pressure has seen some major victories. In spite of the stark resistance faced by the coalition throughout the campaign, the endorsements of the coalition now include the aforementioned Graduate Students Association, the Faculty Association, the Environmental Studies Faculty, 7 colleges at York along with 76 student clubs and associations. According to a Detailed Investments Holding Report Published on March 31^st, 2016, none of the aforementioned weapons companies were being currently invested in by the University. While these are incredible achievements for the movement, there is a very high likelihood of these companies being reinvested in once the pressure dies down. The goal is to ensure that these corporations are never invested in again. The YUDivest coalition hopes to make York University the first post-secondary institution in North America to divest from weapons sparking a domino effect across other universities to pass similar motions.