From October 13 through 19, Columbia College students voted on a referendum outlining university divestment from Israel and closing Columbia Global Center Tel Aviv, the newest worldwide center for the university that opened this past summer. While referendum results are nonbinding and do not change the university’s policies, they can put pressure on the university to take action.
According to the Columbia Spectator, two questions on the referendum asked if Columbia should “divest stocks, funds, and endowment and withhold future investment” in “defense equipment, technology, and services companies” and “companies that profit from or financially support the State of Israel’s acts of occupation, discrimination, and violence against Palestinians.” Previously, in November of 2025, a 12-member voting committee on “socially responsible investing,” which is made up of students, faculty, and alumni, rejected three proposals putting forth a divestment from Israel.
The sixth question on the referendum asked if the global center in Tel Aviv should be shuttered. A referendum from 2024, which CU Apartheid Divest proposed and the Columbia Elections Board approved, asked students if Columbia should cancel the global center; 68.36% of respondents voted in favor of it.
As of October 30, results from the latest referendum had not been released. Columbia officials did not respond to a request for comments, but Jewish students at Columbia reacted to the news.
Galia Labowitz, a senior at Columbia University, said, “I think everyone at Columbia is honestly just exhausted. It feels like we have the same referendum debate every year.”
In October of 2020, a similar referendum asked whether the university should divest its funds, stocks, and endowment from companies that profit from or engage in Israel’s actions toward Palestinians, which the Columbia University Apartheid Divest defined. It passed, with 61.03% in favor, but it did not change the university’s investment policies.
The April 2024 referendum, which included the cancellation of the Global Center Tel Aviv, resulted in 76.55% voting in favor of financially divesting from Israel. Additionally, 65.62% voted to end the dual degree program Columbia has with Tel Aviv University.
There have been multiple reports of antisemitism at Columbia University, especially since the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel; many occurred during the spring of 2024 encampments on campus. Several Israeli and Jewish students have filed lawsuits against the university for alleged antisemitism. In July of 2025, Columbia reached a Federal Resolution Agreement with the Trump Administration to resolve civil rights and anti-discrimination investigations linked to the protests, agreeing to pay a $200 million settlement to the federal government over the course of three years.
At best, this referendum is symbolic, and at worst, it’s divisive.” TJ Katz
TJ Katz, a junior at Columbia who is the current president of AEPi, reflected on the referendum.
“At best, this referendum is symbolic, and at worst, it’s divisive, because it doesn’t have the power to actually change how Columbia invests and handles global relationships,” he said. “All it does is pit students against each other and threaten the progress made towards a more peaceful campus.”
