"We were furious and angry. CUNY has constantly tried to silence organizing for Palestine. [They] called the NYPD to brutalize Palestine protestors. And so this just seemed one more example of repression against our organizing for Palestinian liberation,"
"The case's preliminary statement wrote that Southey, the plaintiff, "seeks these records to support student efforts to advocate for CUNY's divestment from certain companies implicated in Israel's military campaigns.""
"In March 2024, then-first-year law student at the City University of New York's Law School, Sarah Southey, filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request to obtain CUNY's financial investment information, including what companies are held in their financial portfolio."
Students filed a FOIL request in March 2024 to obtain CUNY's financial investment information amid a growing campus pro-Palestine movement and the ongoing violence in Gaza. Student organizers demanded disclosure of ties to companies alleged to support the Israeli occupation. CUNY rejected the request in May 2024 following a police raid and mass arrests at a Gaza Solidarity Encampment. Student plaintiff Sarah Southey, a first-year law student and member of campus Palestine groups, sued with the New York Civil Liberties Union in November 2024 to obtain records for divestment advocacy. A New York court ordered CUNY to disclose the records on August 20, 2025, constituting a legal victory for the student movement.
Read at Truthout
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