[Disclaimer: Certain grammatical and stylistic choices in this article have been adapted in accordance with National Students for Justice in Palestine precedent in written statements.]
To the Vassar Community,
At the time of our writing this letter, israel’s military is actively bombing the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza. 1.5 million people are currently sheltering in Rafah, a city of less than 25 square miles. Rafah serves as a critical entry point for food, medicine and other essential aid. With this tragedy and destruction in mind, we present this statement for readers’ consideration.
We, the undersigned members of the Vassar Class of 2024, stand in solidarity with our fellow students, faculty and alumni in their call for disclosure, divestment and most importantly, Palestinian liberation. We support the demands of the Vassar Popular University: That Vassar College release its investment portfolio, end all direct and indirect investments with ties to israel, call for a ceasefire and leverage its power and ties to U.S. lawmakers to support a free Palestine.
We are committed to seeing an end to the occupation of Palestine. As students of Vassar College, we have been taught to interrogate the systems we operate within. Our school motto, “Fearlessly Consequential,” calls upon students to dissent with courage and conviction. We join others demanding Palestinian liberation because our time at Vassar College has taught us that no injustice occurs in a vacuum. We understand how mass violence against Palestinians is part of larger systemic injustices in the world.
As soon-to-be Vassar graduates, we recognize our unique opportunity and privilege. While we honor our accomplishments and everything it has taken to get to this momentous occasion, we believe that it is equally as essential to honor the students who have been martyred in Palestine and robbed of the chance to graduate alongside us as the Class of 2024. Since October 7th, over 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in israel’s genocide, including more than 14,500 children. This number does not include over 10,000 people missing and 78,800 people injured.
We also stand in solidarity with students in Palestine who are still living, and who cannot attend their graduations because no universities remain standing in Gaza, having been destroyed by israel’s military attacks. As we hold our loved ones close, we also hold in our hearts and minds the Palestinian families who will never watch their children, grandchildren, or siblings walk the stage.
We, the undersigned members of the 2024 graduating class, join 483 alumni, over 90 faculty members, and our fellow students in calling for Vassar College to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine. We condemn the lack of administrative attention paid to the rise of Islamophobia, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian rhetoric on our campus and worldwide. We echo our faculty’s condemnation of the administration’s conflation of calls for ceasefire, boycott and divestment with anti-Semitism. We stand with millions of students across the world who lead similar efforts, and in solidarity with those who have been subject to suspension, expulsion, police brutality, arrest and state-sanctioned violence.
We refuse to use graduation as an excuse to disengage from the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. Knowing that short-term institutional memory is used to breed complicity, as alumni we will choose to stay in contact with current students who continue to fight for Palestinian liberation.
In supporting Palestinian liberation, we continue the longstanding history of student activism on Vassar campus, which includes sit-ins that demanded divestment from South African Apartheid in the 1970s. These demonstrations were successful, with complete divestiture occurring in 1988. The demands and actions of current students, including the class of 2024, follow in the footsteps of Vassar students who came before us.
We condemn our administration’s failure to divest from israel thus far and take pride in the fact that Vassar students will continue to hold our college accountable beyond graduation. We join Vassar Alumni for Palestine in our pledge to withhold all donations until divestment. Our work here and elsewhere is not done. We will use our collective power as alumni to support present and future members of Vassar College in their efforts to advance justice on campus, in Palestine and in the world.
Signed,
Members of the Graduating Class of 2024 in support of Justice in Palestine
AH
H.C
K.H.
Chloé Hupin
Ruby Garcia
Lauren Freedman
NS
Nima Heffelfinger
Anne Goldsmith
Morgan Stevenson-Swadling
LS
JTM
Maya Page
Isabel R McGuire
MD
AEP
JMB
MDS
Sharon Nahm
KR
Kaity Martin
Pauline Nadis
Leon Moore
Hannah Thompson
Sofia Nevarez
Grace Skakel
SS
Cae McLaughlin
Bryn Marling
Ellie Whiteman
DM
Lev Goldman
Maeve Smith
Catherine Borthwick
Cora Blackwell
Elizabeth Stockton Perkins
JGD
Melina Robertson
Sylvia Martinez
Alexander Roth
Laurine Kim
R. Panday
Sydney Duncan
Adam Sribney
Sylvia Greenstein
MMM
MR
Kiran Rudra
AGR
Danielle Ncube
Daph Knoop
Gwynne Smith
Charlie Blim
M.P. Dauk
Sophia Zimmerman
Vi To
JAF
Max Steiger
Emma Mazloom
Owen Smith
KC
Brittany Andrade
Abbie Kohomban
Anikka Reinwand
Noah Babb
LS
Mya Kahle
Sophia Slavin
SQ
BT
Oliver Halberg
Lukas Johnson
Loren Pacheco
Ayane Garrison
Z.G
MB
AN
Mary Brinsmade Carew-Miller
EST
MH
Evelyn Silva
AD
Angelina Papa
Jasmine Zhang
Sarah Allison
JS
GG
Brynne Gomez
SPL
JS
NT
Natalia Fay
S.B.
Priya Muldowney
Katie Varon
Phoebe DiLeo
Hannah Hu
Ezra Venditti
M.E.
Chiara Castaneda
Elizabeth Borchard
Katie Gebbia
MR
JS
KLC
E.S.
BB
Kelsey O’Connell
J. M. P.
Laura Darling
Olly Skeet Browning
Liz Hetzel
PW
LL
Karoline Espino
RFT
KS
Skylar Huebner
Hajeong Kim
Madeleine Brigman
SG
IG
William Flachmeyer
Emma Kiernan
Anica Acuña
JC
Abigail Houton
CM
Devon Seixas
Sadie Krichmar
Isabella Reid
PKMV
Rowan Rouner-Greer
David Shively-Ertas
Annika Kligman
AB
Szofia Lewis
AV
Claire Dwyer
KLG
Eva Gubitz-Hess
SG
AC
G.R.
Seowon Back
It is interesting to note that a full 25% of this year’s graduating class is willing to go on record supporting this anti-Semitic rant. Also of note is the fact the editors fully support the dehumanizing of Jews by spelling Israel with a lower case “i”. Shameful beyond words.
Grow up. This wokeness needs to end. I find it quite interesting that this class didn’t ask for donations to be withheld while they were students at Vassar. Selfish and entitled brats.
Thank you, class of ’24 for taking on such a noble and ethical cause. The people of Palestine has endured decades of torture, murder and suffering at the hands of Israel and it’s about time that we stand up on their behalf. You have my support and will help to spread the word.