1978: Chile
The first call for divestment at UBC emerged in opposition to Noranda, a mining corporation implicated in sustaining Augusto Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship in Chile. UBC students, part of Project Chile, mobilized to expose Noranda’s complicity, petitioning the Board of Governors and raising campus-wide awareness. Their persistence led to UBC divesting from Noranda in 1978. Yet, in a display of institutional hypocrisy, UBC quietly reinvested $535,000 in Noranda just five years later, sparking renewed demands from students for ethical alignment in university investments.
Read student voices in the Ubyssey from February 24, 1978
1986: South Africa
Decades of national and campus activism, led by Students for a Free South Africa, pressured UBC to divest partially from apartheid South Africa. However, UBC’s actions were far from exemplary. Unlike peer institutions that took decisive stances (McGill, Dalhousie, and York University), UBC refused full divestment. Students throughout history, recognize this pattern of reluctance from UBC to take a principled human rights stance and continue to demand accountability for its complicity in global injustices.
Read student voice in the Ubyssey from July 23-29, 1986
2019: Fossil Fuels
After ten years of relentless activism—protests, petitions, letter-writing campaigns, and presentations to the Board of Governors—UBC finally pledged to divest from fossil fuels by 2030. In a Declaration on the Climate Emergency[1], President Emeritus of UBC, Santa Ono, thanked student activists, faculty, and staff, stating:
“Their activism and passion were essential in getting the university to act on the climate crisis. I hope they continue to hold us up to scrutiny and let us know when we fail to live up to expectations.” (emphasis added).
Read about Climate Justice UBC Divestment Win
Ongoing Calls for Divestment from Apartheid and Genocide
Calls for divestment from companies complicit in Israeli apartheid and war crimes have persisted at UBC for nearly a decade and reflect a broader struggle for justice and accountability. In 2022, a coalition of 20 student groups successfully passed an AMS motion demanding divestment from nine corporations linked to illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine. Then-UBC president Santa J. Ono dismissed the resolution, explaining that the university’s commitment to principals of equity, diversity, and inclusion are incompatible with divestment from companies in violation of human rights.
Read the full statement from April 12, 2022.
Note that President and Vice-Chancellor Benoit-Antoine Bacon reaffirmed the statement on December 18, 2023
Calls to divest from Israeli war crimes increase in urgency
The urgency of divestment demands rose in 2023 as Israel’s genocide in Palestine unfolded. Activists leveraged the UBCIM June 2023 holdings report[2], which revealed UBC’s investments in weapons manufacturers and companies listed by the UN as complicit in illegal settlements. Students, faculty, and community members mobilized through protests and mass letter campaigns, calling on the university to end its role in apartheid and genocide. Despite mounting pressure, President Benoit-Antoine Bacon and university leaders continued to evade meaningful engagement.
By April 2024, faculty activism on the Okanagan campus led UBC Okanagan’s Senate to pass a resolution[3] condemning “the perpetration of genocide, and… the occupation, siege, and invasion of Gaza by the state of Israel,” while expressing support for “all those who peacefully oppose this war.” This resolution raises an important contradiction: it is inconsistent to claim peaceful opposition to genocide while remaining financially invested in it. Divestment, as a peaceful and principled strategy, offers a tangible way to align words with actions.
Students globally escalate by setting up encampments
As part of a global movement demanding university divestment from genocide, students at UBC launched encampments on both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses in April and May respectively. These encampments were established to amplify calls for divestment and became a focal point of student advocacy.
While the administration at UBC Okanagan initially invited encampment members to dialogue, communication quickly stalled, and students were left without meaningful engagement. Continued student activism eventually steered administration at both campuses into weekly meetings with a coalition of student and faculty groups.
When the encampments concluded, organizers emphasized their role as part of a broader, ongoing divestment movement. Public statements[4] released by the encampments reflected student commitment to advocacy and emphasized that the movement for justice and accountability at UBC transcends physical protests and will continue to evolve.