Students, staff and community members told the University of California Investment Committee on May 13 that the university should divest from companies they said supply weapons used in Gaza and other conflicts.

The public comments were emphatic and repeated across multiple speakers. Ruhan Kadre said, “We are demanding the UC completely divest from companies who fuel Israelis genocide of Palestinian people.” Student speakers and community advocates cited systemwide investments and called for immediate action by the regents.

Several speakers asserted the university holds billions in defense-related investments. Lily Grodzins told the committee, “I am calling for you to disinvest the over $3,000,000,000 you have invested in weapons,” and other speakers repeated that figure as a rationale for divestment campaigns. Commenters referenced prior UC divestment actions on South African apartheid and fossil fuels to argue for action now.

Student and community comments also described on-campus actions and protests: hunger strikes, petitions and coordinated demands across UC campuses and partner institutions. Jennifer Burke and other speakers urged the committee to “invest in them instead of investing in weapons” and noted that some local governments and institutions (for example, City of San Francisco and Alameda County) have moved to divest.

The Investment Committee acknowledged the public comments; no divestment motion or vote occurred during the meeting. Committee members heard the testimony and continued the quarter‑end investment briefing and portfolio discussion led by the UC Investments team.