PSC Delegate Assembly 2/20/25 - Notes + Vote on Divestment Resolution

(Unofficial) notes on the 2/20/25 meeting of the Delegate Assembly (DA)
 
The bulk of the meeting was devoted to the “PSC and NYCERS Israeli Investments Divestment Resolution” which called on the PSC to 
divest from any holdings in Israeli government bonds and Israeli companies in its investment portfolio and to send a letter to the TRS
board, that would also be posted on the PSC-CUNY website, expressing the PSC’s support for complete divestment for Israel. 
 
The resolution called for this move based on the impact of Israel’s actions in Gaza; the assessment of these actions by the 
International Criminal Court; the role of the U.S. as a major provider of military aid to Israel; the established history of divestment as a 
nonviolent mechanism for exercising influence on state actions; and as an act of solidarity with trade unions in New York City who have 
called for similar actions. See below for details, but to summarize: the resolution did not pass. 113 delegates voted against it and 
63 voted for it. 
 
This resolution had passed by a vote of 73-70 at the January 23 meeting of the Delegate Assembly DA. However, as 
we explained in an earlier email to membership, there were procedural errors in the January voting process -- including Brooklyn
College delegates inadvertently casting nine votes instead of seven -- that could have altered the outcome of the vote. Knowing that 
our union would likely face legal challenges to this resolution and because they wanted to get the process right, the Executive 
Committee of the PSC proposed two motions: one to rescind the January vote and a second to renew & revote on the resolution.
 
The DA voted in favor of both these motions. With the original vote rescinded and debate on the resolution renewed, the body 
then moved to debate and consider the resolution itself. During the discussion, a motion to amend the resolution failed. A motion
 to postpone discussion of the resolution until the March meeting also failed. The body then moved to vote on the original 
resolution and voted against it by 113 to 63. Brooklyn College faculty delegates voted five in favor of the resolution, one against,
 with one abstention.

The meeting’s other main agenda item was the PSC President’s report which included an update on  
plans to fight for our members and our students. We also heard from the head of our union’s Legislative Committee that over 
600 PSC members and students have signed up to go to Albany for Higher Education Action Day this Wednesday, February 26, 2025. 
The annual fight to get full funding for CUNY is heating up and we hope you will join upcoming actions as they are announced.

We also received an update on union membership which was very positive! Compared with fewer than 40 resignation requests 
since the beginning of this year, over 200 people have chosen to join our union in the same period which is excellent news! 
We still have a lot of work to do to build membership and collective strength at Brooklyn College and across CUNY and we 
invite you to join us in this work! (Thank you to all who have already contacted us about the working groups and Signal chat!) 
Email us at psccunybc@gmail.com.


The agenda for the meeting included discussion of one other resolution and reports from the Treasurer and the Executive Director
of our union. These items were not discussed because we ran out of time. 
 
 

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