Los Angeles, California – As the conflict in Gaza continues into its eighth month, Israel’s military actions, which have become some of the most devastating in recent history, have resulted in nearly 35,000 Palestinian deaths, predominantly women and children.

The high death toll and the ongoing humanitarian crisis have led many progressive and pro-Palestinian activists in the US to criticize their nation’s involvement in the conflict.

The US has maintained its strong support for Israel, delivering approximately $3.8 billion in military aid annually. Critics have condemned this support and the additional billions funneled to sustain the war since it began in October.

On American college campuses, the reaction has been particularly intense, with students challenging their universities’ connections to weapons manufacturers and other firms linked to Israel’s military activities.

“These institutions claim to stand for social justice, but their actions reveal otherwise,” remarked Sinqi Chapman, a freshman at Pomona College, a liberal arts school in Claremont, California.

Chapman was one of the student protesters detained last month for erecting a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus. The protest aimed to urge the college to cut ties with Israel and companies supporting its military efforts in Gaza.

“In the future, we will see that we were on the right side of history,” Chapman stated. “The administration, however, will be blamed for delaying a response to a genocide for over 200 days, despite student, faculty, and staff calls for divestment.”

Historically Close Ties

For decades, US universities have collaborated with the country's defense and aerospace sectors, the largest industries of their kind globally.

Concerns about this cooperation date back decades. In 1961, former President Dwight Eisenhower cautioned against the “military-industrial complex” infiltrating the academic sphere.

“Due to the high costs, a government contract becomes almost a substitute for intellectual curiosity” in university research, he said in a speech.

Daniel Bessner, a professor of international studies at the University of Washington, explained that the Cold War era nurtured relationships between universities and military contractors.

The launch of Sputnik by the Soviet Union in 1957 prompted the US to consider the possibility of falling behind technologically.

In response, the US Congress enacted the National Defense Education Act in 1958, putting universities into a “war footing”. This initiative garnered political support for funding higher education by framing it as a means to enhance the nation's military and technological capabilities.

Bessner added that President Eisenhower signed the act into law, despite his expressed concerns. Consequently, universities and research institutions began receiving significant funding from the Pentagon.

This entanglement, especially prevalent in California, a state known for its favorable weather and strong defense and aerospace sectors, brought in over $158 billion annually by fiscal year 2021.

Clashes with Campus Activism

California has also been a hub for student activism, a tradition that persists.

Chapman cited historical protests as motivation for her leadership in her campus encampment.

Historically, students have protested against the Vietnam War, US support for apartheid in South Africa, and the Iraq War.

“Students protest because our institutions support genocide in Gaza, just as they supported apartheid in South Africa,” Chapman said. “We follow the brave students who challenged their schools’ war investments.”

Many protesters focus on their schools’ multimillion-dollar endowment funds, often invested in various industries, including defense.

Beyond endowment funds, activists argue that universities’ collaborations with defense firms manifest in many ways, particularly in STEM departments, through research projects, recruitment, job fairs, and donations.

At Harvey Mudd College, a participant in Mudders Against Murder explained that such influence often appears neutral, like aerospace endeavors, without clear links to weapons production.

Calls to Divest

Many schools openly promote their connections with defense firms.

The engineering and sciences center at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) highlights its ties with Raytheon as a success on its website.

Defense companies like Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin are listed as corporate affiliates, with several donating substantial sums to the university.

Weapons contractors argue that these partnerships provide students with valuable experience and advance scientific research.

However, not everyone trusts these motives, and schools face increasing demands to sever ties with defense contractors and military operations.

“Graduate students are questioning how to respond to the genocide in Palestine,” said Isabel Kain, an astronomy graduate student at the University of California at Santa Cruz. She organizes with Researchers Against War, mobilizing graduate students against military ties in academia.

“The Palestinian Federation of Trade Unions called for action to disrupt weapons deliveries, including military funding and research, and we felt this was a call we could answer,” Kain said.

Unionized graduate students now possess greater power to push for their demands.

Starting Monday, UAW 4811, representing about 48,000 California graduate students, will vote on strike authorization in response to university crackdowns on pro-Palestine protests.

Recently, protests at institutions like UCLA faced police intervention, resulting in harsh crackdowns and numerous arrests.

The union’s vote aims to communicate to administrators that law enforcement actions infringed on students’ free speech rights and that universities should engage with the protesters’ demands.

“Today, the unionization of graduate students gives us leverage previously unavailable,” Kain noted.

Influencing the Next Generation

The tensions between students and campus military connections extend beyond the current Gaza conflict.

Experts argue that investments on college campuses are part of broader efforts by the military and related industries to integrate into academic, cultural, scientific, and political institutions.

Access to colleges provides companies with potential talent pools for future professionals across various fields.

“The influence of these companies is pervasive, from think tanks and universities to video games and films,” said Benjamin Freeman from the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

“On campuses, especially in STEM, such influence directs talent,” Freeman added.

Freeman questioned how young students might be influenced by early professional engagements with defense and aerospace firms and how those firms might shape their societal contributions.

“Promising students might be steered towards companies prioritizing weapons development over projects like green energy,” Freeman said. “It’s misleading to entice idealistic students with exciting research opportunities that ultimately involve weapons development.”