The Doctoral Students’ Council (DSC) of City University of New York (CUNY) has announced its consideration of a resolution supporting the boycott of Israeli academic institutions.

The DSC represents nearly 4,000 members of the graduate school who are also students and faculty across many of the campuses within the CUNY system. The mission of the DSC includes promoting democracy within CUNY and enabling students to participate in important social, political, and economic decisions that affect their community. The council also advocates for graduate student interests with the Graduate Center administration, university-wide political bodies, the CUNY Board of Trustees, the New York State Assembly, and the Mayor’s Office.

Any student of the Graduate Center may bring forth issues to be presented to the council by requesting its addition to the agenda of an upcoming meeting. This may result in discussion or actions taken within the council or between the DSC and the administration.

Historically, the Doctoral Students’ Council has broadly embraced its role as a political entity of and for students. The organization itself was a product of student activism during the 1960s, and the first resolution it passed opposed the Vietnam War.

Resolutions passed by the Doctoral Students’ Council have included calls for CUNY to divest from fossil fuels, respect students’ rights to free speech and assembly, and have condemned police surveillance of CUNY student organizations. The DSC’s past efforts have also resulted in the creation of a Graduate Center parental leave policy for student workers. Members of the council also successfully moved blood drives off of the campus because their policies discriminated against LGBTQ students.

The resolution under consideration was added to DSC’s plenary agenda in accordance with its bylaws. As with any agenda item, any students who wish to contribute to the discussion of this issue are urged to contact their program representative. Representatives who are not able to attend may send a proxy in their stead or request one from the DSC.

The Doctoral Students’ Council affirms its support of student voices in all facets of politics. The leadership of the body remains committed to providing a respectful platform for student engagement on this and other issues.

For more information, contact Hamad Sindhi, the Doctoral Students’ Council’s Co-Chair for Communications, at 212-817-7847 or ccc@cunydsc.org.