To Students, Alumni, and the NCC Administration,

Since at least December of 2023, students and alumni have been in dialogue with President Anita Thomas and VP of Finance Maryellen Skerik, regarding transparency of the college’s investments. When administration has responded, they provided no information regarding NCC’s investments. On 5/12, students and alumni contacted President Anita Thomas and VP of Finance Maryellen Skerik with a list of requests, including requesting a meeting, either in person or virtually. As of the morning of 5/27, there has been no response. In turn, in hopes of representing students, former students, and alumni who care about Palestine, we are writing this open letter. Our goals are to receive a response and support from administration, have our demands met, and bring other members of the Cardinal community into the conversation. Above all, we want North Central College to live up to their values of social justice and global citizenship, and support the freedom of Palestine. What follows is our list of demands and responses.

Demands of North Central College:

1: Disclose all investments.

2: If found within the investments, divest from weapons manufacturers and companies tied to the occupation of Palestine, particularly as laid out by BDS.

3: Communicate with students and alumni to discuss disclosure and divestment, as well as how these decisions are made. 

4: Create policies that state NCC will not promote or professionally associate with weapons manufacturers or companies tied to the occupation of Palestine, such as through job fairs or collaboration with individuals and corporations.

In an effort to have the college meet these demands, we, alongside any students, alumni, donors, or faculty who choose to join us, will respond as follows:

1: Withholding general donations that would be otherwise left to the spending discretion of North Central College, until the institution discloses and divests. Any donations made will be directly to departments, student organizations, and/or programming that is transparent, traceable, and ethical. 

2: Continued conversation so that it is impossible to ignore our demands. As needed, we maintain the possibility of social media and email campaigns, other virtual forms of conversation, and physical protest. Palestine will not be forgotten or ignored at North Central College.

We hope for professional and transparent responses, and a timely beginning to meeting our demands. Thank you,

- NCC Alumni and Students for Palestine