Immediately after the Illinois Student Government (ISG) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) voted to pass an extremely troubling Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) resolution, Chancellor Robert J. Jones released a definitive statement rejecting BDS and in support of the Jewish community on campus.

ISG has proven to be hostile to Jewish students. In the fall, they passed a resolution ignoring Jewish student voices and redefining what constitutes antisemitism. Now, they passed an anti-Israel divestment resolution that is a direct attack on Jewish students.

In 2017 and again in 2018, the UIUC student body overwhelmingly voted AGAINST a BDS referendum. Despite a clear consensus on the issue, ISG decided to ignore the student body by bringing yet another BDS resolution to a vote.

We, the undersigned, are extremely grateful for the support of Chancellor Jones, who has been a tireless advocate for our community at UIUC. It is clear that ISG has no regard for Jewish students and has used this resolution—under the guise of human rights—to alienate our community and delegitimize the State of Israel. The leadership of Chancellor Jones on this issue is essential to the well-being of Jewish students on UIUC’s campus.

Join us in thanking Chancellor Jones for protecting our community!