Protesting U of California’s Attempt to Forbid Boycotts

president@ucop.edu . . .

 

Dear Drs. Drake and Millikan and Ms. Reilly:

 

We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express our deep concern about the letter dated 2 July 2025 that President Drake sent to University of California (UC) chancellors informing them that student governments and “university entities” are not permitted by University policy to “implement boycotts of companies based on their association with a particular country.” We regard this policy as a serious threat to academic freedom and to the free speech rights of University of California students, faculty and staff.

 

MESA was founded in 1966 to promote scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in the field, the Association publishes the prestigious International Journal of Middle East Studies and has nearly 2,800 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression, both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and outside of North America.

 

Dr. Drake’s letter of 2 July 2025 articulates what he argues is “the University’s obligation to ensure that its units do not engage in financial boycotts of companies associated with a particular country,” because University policy requires that “any financial and business activity under the control of student governments is operated in accordance with sound business practices and is consistent with legal requirements and University policies and procedures.” The letter asserts that such “sound business practices,” including “competitive bidding,” render boycotts unacceptable. 

 

As the Los Angeles Times pointed out, while the letter does not explicitly prohibit boycotts against a specific country, it was disseminated after federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), changed their grant policies to forbid grantees from engaging in boycotts of Israel. We note that on 22 May 2025 the NSF updated its policy to explicitly bar grantees from engaging in commercial or academic boycotts of Israel. In a 9 July 2025 statement to the UC Board of Regents, the presidents of the nine UC undergraduate governments, who would be directly affected by the policy articulated by President Drake, noted that they learned of this policy change through reporting in the Los Angeles Times, not through communication from their own administrations.

 

Dr. Drake’s letter begins by noting that “upholding the values of freedom of speech and inquiry are core commitments of the University of California” and refers to Policies Applying to Campus Activities, Organizations and Students (PACAOS). In Section 60.00 of PACAOS, “Policy on Student Governments,” the purposes of student governments are said to include “provid(ing) students with the educational benefits of participation in student government” (61.11) and “communicat[ing] student views to offices, including external government offices and agencies” (61.14). Section 63.00 notes that “student governments shall have the right to address and take positions on public issues as consideration of such matters serves the University’s purposes for such governments.” 

 

We regard boycotts as a time-honored way to “take positions on public issues,” and one that the University of California itself has previously employed. For example, in 2006 student activism led the Board of Regents to withdraw investments in nine companies which funded or armed the government of Sudan during its war on Darfur. The question of whether this decision accorded with the “sound business practices” referred to in Dr. Drake’s letter does not seem to have generated much concern among the regents, who unanimously supported the measure; according to the Los Angeles Times one regent even hugged the student regent to celebrate the vote’s outcome. 

 

We would also point out that over a year ago, in June 2024, the Daily Bruin reported that the UCLA Undergraduate Students Association Council unanimously voted to stop transferring funds to the Council Programming Endowment, an investment fund operated by UCLA Development, until the UC system divested from companies involved in “the violation of human rights.” Supporting student initiatives to take action to combat human rights violations by means of boycotts, now forbidden by President Drake, is entirely consistent with the purposes of student governments outlined in PACAOS.

 

The Middle East Studies Association has long expressed its opposition to university or government action to prohibit boycotts of Israel, for example here and here. Our participation, along with the American Association of University Professors, in a lawsuit against the Trump administration for implementing an unconstitutional ideological deportation policy intended to suppress pro-Palestine speech on campuses manifests our firm conviction that, especially in this moment when this country’s colleges and universities are under dire threat, standing up for the right of free expression and peaceful protest, including by means of boycotts, is essential to our democracy. 

 

We therefore call on your administration to promptly rescind the anti-boycott policy articulated in Dr. Drake’s letter, a policy which violates the academic freedom and free speech rights of members of the University of California community. 

 

We look forward to your response.

 

Sincerely,

 

Aslı Ü. Bâli 

MESA President

Professor, Yale Law School

 

Laurie A. Brand
Chair, Committee on Academic Freedom
Professor Emerita, University of Southern California