Dear

President Dr. Colleen Hanycz: president@xavier.edu

Lawrence P. Lampe: lampel2@xavier.edu

Mary Ballou: balloum@xavier.edu

Nancy Sampson: sampsonn@xavier.edu

Deborah Mooney: mooney@xavier.edu

As Xavier University graduates, we were all taught about being men and women for and with others as part of our Jesuit education. We were taught the values of reflection, discernment, solidarity, kinship, service rooted in justice and love, cura personalis and magis.

It is with these values in mind that we are demanding that the university disclose all its investments and immediately divest from weapons manufactures and any parties involved in the displacement of Indigenous Peoples, including the Israeli occupation and ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. 

Being people for and with others, we must all do our part in ending the ongoing genocide in Gaza where more than 35,000 Palestinians, including 14,500 children, have been killed by Israeli occupation forces with no end in sight. 

Pope Francis has made multiple calls for an immediate ceasefire including his most recent plea in April.

Villanova, a fellow Catholic university, has already divested in all arms manufacturing and does not have any investments related to Israel. The university stated that this is because they follow the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops guidelines on socially responsible investing, which forbids investing in arms manufacturing. 

Despite these steps by other Catholic universities and clear calls for a ceasefire by the pope, Xavier University administration has chosen to remain silent. We will not be complicit.

Until Xavier university meets the following demands, we as Xavier alumni pledge to withhold any and all donations to the university. 

1) Disclose all financial investments of the school. 
2) Immediately divest from weapons manufactures and those who profit from the Israeli occupation. 
3) Halt all academic cooperation with Israeli institutions including the “Israel Program.”
4) Ensure there will be no repercussions to staff or students who speak out against the ongoing genocide and occupation of Palestine. 

Any attempt to label our demands or this letter as antisemitic will be swiftly dismissed as members of the Xavier alumni Jewish community participated in drafting this letter. Conflating anti-zionism with antisemitism and claiming that Jews must support a foreign state because of their religious and ethnic identity is itself antisemitic. 

You, Xavier administration, have the choice to either uphold the Mission of the university and stand by the morals and ethics you taught us or accept your complicity in genocide. 

Sincerely, 

Xavier Alumni