Statement by NYU spokesman John Beckman on the student government BDS resolution
"President Hamilton's opposition to boycotts of Israel is long-standing and well-known. "The resolution passed by the Student Senators Counselor asks that NYU divest and do no business with GE, Lockheed Martin, Caterpillar, and Boeing because they do business with Israel. "The University opposes this proposal. "It is at odds with the Trustees' well understood position that the endowment should not be used for making political statements. "In addition, on an operational level, this would be a challenging proposal to enact given how we invest our endowment. Our endowment assets are invested through independent financial managers who operate funds in which our assets are co-mingled with others'. NYU cannot unilaterally direct those fund managers not to select certain companies' stock. Our only choice - potentially a very costly one - would be to liquidate assets in a time of considerable market volatility, which would be incompatible with the endowment's primary purpose: generating income to support NYU's academic mission now and in the future." "For the foregoing reasons, the University will not move forward with these measures."
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