We are a group of Georgia Tech students, including Palestinians, who believe in Georgia Tech’s mission to act ethically and improve the human condition, both around the globe and here at Georgia Tech. This mission demands that we address the dire situation in Palestine, including a decades-long apartheid as ruled by the International Court of Justice and more recently, genocide as stated by South Africa, which has amounted to ecocide as described by environmental experts.

Georgia Tech is founded on the principles of progress and service, a call that all community members must answer, yet we are deeply disappointed by Georgia Tech’s role in enabling genocide, ecocide, and apartheid in occupied Palestine and collaborating with Israeli Occupation Forces in Atlanta. As a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, Representative John Lewis, the namesake of the Georgia Tech Student Center, stated, “If you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something about it.” In accordance with Representative Lewis’s example, we are calling on Georgia Tech to take the following actions:

1. Disclose: Disclose Georgia Tech’s complete investment portfolio, along with those of Georgia Tech affiliates, including but not limited to, Georgia Tech Foundation, Georgia Tech Alumni Association, Georgia Tech Research Institute, and Georgia Tech Research Corporation.

2. Divest: Divest from all partnerships and investments enabling Israeli genocide, ecocide, and apartheid as well as the construction of Cop City, a training ground where Israeli Occupation Forces will collaborate with local law enforcement.

3. Disassociate: Disassociate from the Atlanta Committee for Progress, a principal funder and proponent of Cop City, and of which President Cabrera is a member.

In championing Representative John Lewis, President Cabrera himself said, “John Lewis dedicated his life and even put himself at risk to fight for justice for all.”

Georgia Tech is failing to uphold its mission to act ethically and improve the human condition. We as students have an obligation to demand more of Georgia Tech and insist that our institution live up to its professed standards. There is no ethical way to enable the genocide of the Palestinian people and the ecocide of their land; there is no improvement of the human condition in facilitating their indiscriminate extermination. 

Below, we list in greater detail Georgia Tech’s complicity in genocide, ecocide, and apartheid. Georgia Tech maintains financial and research partnerships with the following companies, among many others:

• Boeing, manufacturers of unguided small diameter bombs and Joint Direct Attack Munition kits to convert those bombs into precision-guided munitions that have been used to destroy several schools and residential blocks.

• General Motors, producers of engines and transmission units for Israeli Occupation Force vehicles including the Flyer 72 and Z-series all-terrain vehicles.

• Honeywell, manufacturers of a part that aids in precision targeting that was used to attack a United Nations School at Nuseirat Refugee Camp and other civilian-populated areas.

• Hyundai, manufacturers of excavators used by Israeli Occupation Forces to demolish Palestinian homes, resulting in displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian villages.

• Lockheed Martin, manufacturers of weapons used on Palestinian civilians, including the Hellfire missile comprised of spinning blades as well as F-16 and F-35 fighter jets used to bomb Gaza.

• RTX (formerly Raytheon), manufacturers of air-to-ground missiles and cluster bombs as well as engines for F-15 and F-16 fighter jets used to bomb Gaza.

• Woodward, supplies missiles and guided bombs and manufactures fin control actuation systems for Boeing JDAM kits and GBU-39 small diameter bombs used by Israel on Palestinian civilians.

Furthermore, Georgia Tech is directly involved in the development of Atlanta’s Cop City, based on Israel’s “Little Gaza.” At Cop City, Israeli Occupation Forces, notoriously known for their human rights violations, would train local law enforcement. According to the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund, “Cop City places Atlanta residents, especially Black residents, at continued risk of contact with militarized policing.” This project will not only harm Palestinians abroad by empowering and enabling the Israeli Occupation Forces but will also bring detriment to our own community here at home in Atlanta. 

In 1986, Georgia Tech students demanded that Georgia Tech disclose and divest from apartheid in South Africa. As a result of the power of students’ voices united, Georgia Tech ultimately did disclose and divest. Now is our generation’s turn to follow their example in demanding justice and achieving victory. We reaffirm the students’ pledge today for Palestine and echo their demands: Disclose. Divest. Disassociate.

As one of the leading universities in the nation, Georgia Tech has a societal obligation to shape discourse regarding current events and to set the highest standards for acting ethically and improving the human condition, whether it be genocide, technological innovation, economic affairs, or anything in between.

In the words of President Cabrera at the unveiling of the John Lewis Student Center, “This facility will also serve as a powerful reminder of our commitment to improve the human condition, to embrace collaboration and diversity, and to nurture well-being and act ethically.”

We are a concerned community that believes in the values of Georgia Tech and are committed to doing our part to uphold these values. We ask Georgia Tech to take the same initiative to act ethically and improve the human condition and invite the institution to respond to our demands: Disclose. Divest. Disassociate. We request the institution’s response in both words and action by no later than September 1, 2024.

Signed by

Muslim Students Association

Endorsed by

Aarohi
African Student Association

Arab Student Association
Asian American Student Association
ATL Satrangi
ATL Tanishq
Bangladesh Student Association
Barbell Club
Best Buddies
Black Civil and Environmental Engineers at Georgia Tech
Black in Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech
Buzz Mobile Health
Caribbean Students Association
Common Good
Creatives @ GT
Doctors Without Borders Student Chapter
Eritrean-Ethiopian Student Association
Ethics Bowl at Georgia Tech
Filipino Student Association
FirstGen
Global Health Club
GT Qurbani
Helping Hive at Georgia Tech
IfYou'reReadingThis
Madhatter Knits at Georgia Tech
Medical Robotics Club
MedTech Hack
Musician's Network
Muslim Tech Collaborative
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People @ GT
National Organization of Minority Architecture Students
Organization for Social Activism at GT
Pakistani Student Association
Partners in Health Engage at Georgia Tech
Persian-American Resource Society
Pride Alliance
Psychology Association
Pulse
Research Insights Club
Student Organization for Latinos in Computing
Students Organizing for Sustainability

Tekstyles
Vietnamese Student Association
Women in Materials Science and Engineering
Writing Club @ GT
Young Democratic Socialists of America