UBC Alma Mater Society open letter on the 2026 Student Referendum on Institutional Partnerships with Israeli Universities
Sid Shniad
Open Letter on the 2026 Student Referendum on Institutional Partnerships with Israeli Universities
Dear members of the UBC Vancouver Senate and the UBC Administration:
The Alma Mater Society of UBC (AMS) submits this letter in fulfilment of a binding democratic mandate issued by the student body of the University of British Columbia Vancouver campus.
Between March 9–13, 2026, 13,476 UBC students participated in an AMS referendum posing the following question:
“Do you support the AMS calling for the University of British Columbia to cut ties with all institutions upholding apartheid, including Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, and Tel Aviv University, by writing an open letter to UBC and the UBC Vancouver Academic Senate?”
Of those who voted on this question, 8,894 students (83.5%) voted in favour. The referendum was originally petitioned by at least 1,000 students and subsequently endorsed by AMS Council.
This follows prior AMS Council action, including a motion that passed in 2022 condemning Israeli apartheid in Palestine and expressing support for divestment from companies complicit in human rights violations.[1] That position, adopted through student governance, forms part of the ongoing policy backdrop to this referendum. Additionally, a 2025 United Nations Special Rapporteur investigation reported that universities in Israel “contribute to the ideological scaffolding of apartheid, cultivating state-aligned narratives, erasing Palestinian history and justifying occupation practices”.[2] The AMS notes this report as relevant background, reflecting the position of a leading international human rights body that has informed student opinion on this issue.
It is in this context that students were asked whether they supported the AMS calling on UBC to cut ties with Israeli universities. For the purposes of this letter, as defined in the referendum materials presented to voters,[3] “cutting ties” referred to the full termination of all academic, research, and institutional collaborations with the named institutions, and refraining from entering any new partnerships, programs, or initiatives with them. This may include formally ending or not renewing Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), student mobility agreements, and formal research collaborations with Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, and Tel Aviv University, and their affiliated centres and research units.
The AMS therefore formally calls upon UBC and the UBC Vancouver Senate to work toward ending or not renewing the aforementioned agreements, consistent with the expressed will of 8,894 students who supported this referendum.
The AMS recognizes that the Senate has navigated the complex academic, legal, and institutional considerations involved in such a motion in its implementation of the “Motions Arising from the Russian Invasion of Ukraine,” through the work of UBC’s administration and governance bodies.[4] The AMS, through its elected governance structures, stands behind the decisive call of the student body, and stewards this call forward to the Senate, the people best positioned to act on it.
The AMS remains committed to open dialogue with UBC leadership on this matter and welcomes the opportunity to discuss the referendum outcome and its implications further.
Sincerely,
Riley Huntley, on behalf of AMS Council
President, AMS of UBC
- Alma Mater Society (AMS) Council Motion, available at https://www.ams.ubc.ca/news/ams-stands-in-solidarity-with-palestinian-students/
- United Nations Human Rights Council, Report by Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese (2 July 2025) UN Doc A/HRC/59/23, 23-24, available from https://docs.un.org/en/A/HRC/59/23
- Petitioned referendum, available from https://www.ams.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2026-Demand-UBC-Cut-Ties-with-Israeli-Universities-that-Uphold-Apartheid-Referendum-Wording.pdf
- UBC Vancouver Senate, Minutes of 20 April 2022, available from https://scs-senate-2021.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/20220420-Vancouver-Senate-Minutes-.pdf