UBC students voted overwhelmingly in favor of a two-day student strike for divestment. With 7,917 yes votes, a 76% majority, and a turnout of 18.9% (higher than the recent student union election) the referendum not only passed, but sent a clear message: students are engaged, organized, and ready to act.
Earlier this week, the UBC administration released a statement regarding the upcoming student strike for divestment on March 24 and 25.[1] The statement emphasizes that the strike was organized through an AMS referendum, that the university does not officially sanction these actions, and that operations will continue as normal.
We appreciate the university’s acknowledgment that the crisis in Gaza and "neighbouring regions” is a matter of deep concern for many in our community. Though we do wonder if Palestine was too bold a word for the occasion, or if Gaza could’ve earned a spot at the front of the sentence rather than tucked politely behind broader geography.
That said, we’re glad the university affirms the importance of freedom of expression and peaceful protest. We want to speak directly to what this moment represents and why so many students are stepping forward with urgency, clarity, and care.
We’ve heard this before: student activism represents a radical minority, or that actions like this are disruptive. But let’s be clear. Thousands of students participated in a democratic process. Nearly 8,000 voted yes in the recent referendum, a clear, majority mandate for a peaceful student strike. This isn’t fringe. This is civic engagement. This is democracy in action.
History teaches us something important here. The movements that now seem obvious - the fight for civil rights, for anti-apartheid divestment, for Indigenous sovereignty - didn’t start as majorities. They started with young people who cared enough to speak out. Who believed that institutions, especially places of learning, should live up to the values they teach.
In the words of Mahmoud Khalil, writing from detention for his campus activism:
“Students have long been at the forefront of change — leading the charge against the Vietnam War, standing on the frontlines of the civil rights movement, and driving the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Today, too, even if the public has yet to fully grasp it, it is students who steer us toward truth and justice.”[2]
This strike is not about disrupting learning, it is learning. It’s about moral clarity, about asking difficult questions, and about standing in solidarity with those who are suffering. Students are saying: we see what’s happening in the world, and we refuse to be silent about it. We ask that the university meet this moment not with neutrality, but with integrity. Not with distance, but with curiosity and courage. Students are not asking for approval, they’re asking to be heard, to be taken seriously, and to be part of shaping a more just institution.
We urge UBC leadership, faculty, and staff to listen closely, not just to the noise of protest, but to the reason behind it. Because in the end, what’s happening here is not about policy. It’s about people. It’s about values. It’s about the world we want to build together.