On Sept. 23, the Student Association’s Instagram account posted a statement officially calling on Binghamton University to divest from Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war. The move came nearly six months after S2324-R11 was passed by SA Congress in a session marked by over five hours of political bickering and hate-filled looks thrown from one side of protesting spectators to the other. As someone who attended that session, I worried about how painfully strained our campus climate would be until summer break. When finals had passed, I was relieved to get as far away from campus as possible, where I could finally get a break from the constant protesting, hateful YikYaks and negative energy that hung over the Spine like a fog.

There was hope that this semester would be different. With the teeth taken out of the resolution by an SA Judicial Board decision that ruled certain elements unconstitutional, the campus seemed once more focused primarily on the here and now, not global politics. However, by taking this long to release a statement in accordance with the revised resolution on the heels of a new SA Congress opening, the student government shows that it is committed to once more fostering a negative environment on campus. This move will serve to only reignite tensions regarding divestment, dragging the entire student body into the matters of global politics, of which it has both no influence and no expertise.

While it is imperative to remember that there are global issues surrounding us, it is the student government’s primary responsibility to ensure a positive campus climate that fosters open discourse regarding events both on campus and globally. In this sense, both last year’s Congress and this year’s SA E-board have failed miserably. Last semester marked a new low in campus climate, with students choosing to hate their peers based on a conflict occurring 6,000 miles away over sitting down to discuss how we can coexist and develop useful discourse regarding the subject. Instead, the discourse has evolved into disrespectful conduct across the aisle, marked most noticeably by the creation of “safe spaces” that feel exclusionary toward the other side, creating a sensation that coexistence is impossible. By continuing with the release of the statement six months after the decision (and with no context on social media), the Student Association has shown their continued lack of commitment to healing campus tensions, choosing to instead pursue their own objectives and foster yet another year of negativity.

Additionally, the statement posted above poses its own flaws which both misrepresent the student body and mischaracterize the groups that support the statement. The statement begins by stating that “We, the Binghamton University Student Association Congress, have an obligation to vocally represent the will of the undergraduate student body, including in matters of global and social justice…” I agree that above all else, it is the Student Association’s duty to represent the opinion of the student body to the administration and general public. However, preluding a divisive statement by saying that it is representative of the will of the student body is both contrary to the politics of our campus and unfound based on general American campus statistics.

A Generations Lab poll published in May found that college students pose much greater concern regarding issues such as climate change, with the Israel-Hamas war coming last out of nine listed concerns. Of the 14,000+ undergraduate students at BU, it is reasonable to assume that under 50 percent voice a strong perspective regarding the Israel-Hamas war, with the majority caring mostly about their classes, extracurriculars and personal lives. The reality of our campus is that the student body cares about global issues, but not to the point where there is a unified coalition with significant outspoken support calling for alignment on any particular issue. Therefore, to state that the SA Congress is taking action to decisively promote an opinion that is pressing on the minds of the general student body is inaccurate and misrepresentative of the average student, who I’m sure would much rather the SA Congress focus on matters much closer to home.

The statement also misrepresents certain multicultural groups as being supportive of the resolution. The post states “We were compelled to pass S2324-R11 … after hundreds of student signatures and twenty club sponsorships — including Jewish, Arab, Muslim, Latin American…” It is telling that the first multicultural group mentioned is Jewish, given that the majority of Jewish students our age have been found to express either pro-Israel or neutral opinions regarding the Jewish state’s conduct in the Israel-Hamas war as of April 1. Binghamton, with roughly 4,000 Jews, is no exception, and while the resolution does have written support from The Yiddish Bund, its membership pales in comparison to the larger Jewish, pro-Israel organizations on campus, which routinely host hundreds (if not thousands) of students at events. Phrasing the statement as having (first and foremost) support from the overall Jewish community misrepresents one of the largest cultural denominations on campus.

War is harrowing to watch, especially with such easy access to breaking updates and close-up coverage afforded by social media. However, it cannot be forgotten that the Student Association’s priority must be first and foremost the well-being of the student body it represents. I do believe I am with the majority of students on campus when I say that I’d prefer walking down the Spine to food trucks as opposed to hate-filled shouting from students protesting a war they know very little about. By releasing this statement, the SA shows a strong disillusionment with the student body and marks a commitment toward pursuing their own agenda of global politics at the expense of our campus.

Jacob Birman is a senior majoring in business administration. 

A Letter to the Editor is an opinion column published in response to a column or article previously published. This is Birman’s response to news coverage on 9/24 titled “Student Association publishes divestment statement.” 

Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the view of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the Staff Editorial.