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Introduction: Whos Who

University of South Florida (USF) had a recent initiative to divest that was sponsored by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). What is the structure of the 2012 2013 student government? President Brian Goff Vice President George Papadeas Senate President Helin Jeff Gao Senate Pro Tempore Scott Sandoval The Senate is composed of 60 senators. Senate attendance is usually at 39 members. The Senate elects the Senate President, who decides what will be placed on the agenda for the Senate meeting. The #2 person in the Senate is the Senate Pro Tempore who assists the Senate President in fulfilling his responsibilities. Brian Goff and his affiliation with Zionism During the height of the Gaza bombings in November 2012, SJP led campus demonstrations against Israels airstrikes. To everyones surprise, President Goff sent a letter on USF letterhead with gold embossment saying he would commit himself to support U.S.-Israeli relations and Israels right to selfdefense, signing off in Bull Pride as student body president. Reference 1 During his term in office, Goff has attended multiple AIPAC conferences including conferences in October and January. Reference 3; Reference 4 In December, Goff and Papadeas went on a trip to Israel paid for by AIPAC. Reference 5 Goff went to the AIPAC Policy conference in Washington D.C. on March 3 to March 5, 2013 which occurred two days after the conclusion of election week at USF. Who forms the USF administration? The President of USF is Judy Genshaft since 2000. She is from Ohio. She has donated to Hillel organizations in Kentucky. The Genshaft Family Foundation has investments in the Industrial Development Bank of Israel. She actively supports the USF Hillel organization and attends its functions. Genshaft and the USF Board of Trustees gained notoriety for their quest to fire Dr. Sami Al-Arian. From 2001 to 2003, USF placed Al-Arian on administrative leave without a pretense. The university was in a predicament and was liable for a multi-million dollar lawsuit. It was being severely criticized by the faculty union and the national teachers union. In February 2003, the Bush Administration indicted Al-Arian on terror charges. Following the indictment, the university fired Al-Arian and used it as legal cover. It is interesting to note that a grand jury would acquit Al-Arian and his co-defendants. The federal prosecution failed to deliver a single guilty verdict despite spending $50 million of taxpayers money. Copyright 2013 Students for Justice in Palestine at University of South Florida, All rights reserved.

The beginning: Senate legislation fails

In early January 2013, SJP drafted a resolution modeled after the UC Irvine BDS legislation. Nine senators had privately endorsed the legislation and were willing to sponsor it on the Senate floor. On January 15, SJP contacted Senate Pro Tempore Scott Sandoval to ensure the correct format was used in writing the resolution. SJP learned that its format was correct but Sandoval advised shortening the resolution. A week later on January 22, Goff approached an SJP member and called the resolution dead on arrival. Goff called it a political statement and stated the university does not participate in political statements. SJP wanted more discussion and met with Senate President Gao. Gao stated he would not even allow the resolution to enter the Senate floor for discussion. SJP learned through a public records request that Gao had consulted legal counsel on how to handle the legislation. The universitys associate legal counsel Joanne Adamchak was an opponent of the legislation and was actively working in the backgrounds to prevent the legislation from being discussed. Although Adamchak was identified as an early opponent of the legislation to divest from corporations affiliated with human rights violations, she was working only in the background. She would later overtly begin threatening members of student government to prevent the BDS initiative from succeeding. Needless to say, the Goffs hypocrisy was exposed from the beginning. Goff was the same person who wrote a letter with USF letterhead in November 2012 to USF Hillel endorsing Israels right to selfdefense as hundreds of Gaza civilians were being massacred by Israeli airstrikes. He wrote the letter in response to on-campus student demonstrations For Goff to state that the university does not participate in politics was an example of the clear hypocrisy that pervaded his leadership.

Students rally for BDS

After learning about the significant biases involved in the student government leadership, SJP decided to pursue a different course of action. The new plan was a student referendum on a non-binding resolution. On the afternoon of Monday, February 4, SJP learned the details in how to initiate a referendum. The statues were clear and unambiguous. Any student had the right to class a referendum election with a petition of at least 20% of the number of students that voted in the most recent general election. This meant 1,541 signatures were needed for the referendum to be put on the ballot. In order for the referendum election to be on the ballot for General Elections, SJP had to collect 1,541 signatures by the end of the week. SJP drafted the referendum on the night of February 4. SJP had three full days to collect 1,541 signatures. SJP put in a full-blown effort and gathered over 2,500 signatures and submitted the petition on Friday, February 8 at 3:55 PM. Copyright 2013 Students for Justice in Palestine at University of South Florida, All rights reserved.

SJP fights to put referendum on ballot

There are four rules in a referendum election at USF. The rules for referendum are clear: 1. Get 20% of population that voted in last election. That meant 1,541 signatures. 2. Submit it 10 business days before election. That meant the signatures had to be submitted by February 8. 3. Student government must verify signatures. 4. Student government must make the referendum public and accessible 1 week before elections. Students government responsibility is to verify the signatures on the petition and confirm they are signed by university students with their valid ID numbers. This process does not take long and the Election Rules Commission (ERC) had verbally informed us that the signatures were verified within a week. On the Thursday before Election Week, Joanne Adamchak contacts student government advisor at 1 PM. The advisor emails SJP at 2 PM and writes, I regret to inform you that the student referendum will not be placed on the election ballot next week. I have been advised that since SG is an arm of the university and since the university does not take on political referendums, SG does not as well. This email was horrifying. It was readily apparent that Adamchak had delayed this to the Thursday before elections to make it difficult to arrange a meeting with legal counsel for it to explain her argument. SJP approached student government leaders and explained that Adamchaks argument in the email was wrong on three counts. 1. Adamchak did not provide where it was written that USF does not take political stances. 2. This referendum is strictly humanitarian not political. 3. It is illegal to restrict a referendum based on its content, regardless of whether it is political or not. Student government had previous referendums on the ballot which were political in nature as well. For example, the Real Food referendum and the Health Care referendum were both political and on the ballot It was readily apparent that Adamchaks argument was baseless. Even student government leaders conceded that the referendum had to be placed on the ballot. Gao emailed Adamchak, At this point it would be ill-advised of me to stand between the student [sic] and their right to the referendum. On the Sunday night before elections, SJP received a phone call from President Goff asking whether SJP wanted to change the contents of the referendum questions to a question about a two-state solution. SJP denied the request because that was not the question that over 2,500 students had petitioned for.

Copyright 2013 Students for Justice in Palestine at University of South Florida, All rights reserved.

Content of the referendum

These referendum questions were placed on the ballot with the title, Divestment from Corporations with Human Rights Violations Question 1: Would you support the USF student government in adhering to the principles of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere? Question 2: Would you support boycotting, divesting, and sanctioning corporations affiliated with human rights violations by replacing them with ethical alternatives at University of South Florida? The explanations for the questions written by SJP also appeared on the ballot. This is an excerpt of it: Corporations affiliated with the oppression, occupation, and apartheid of the Palestinian people includes: Sabra Hummus Sabra is owned by parent company Strauss Group Ltd. It actively provides financial support and supplies to the Golani Brigades. The Golani Brigades in particular are notorious for their record of grave and systematic human rights abuses. Sabra Hummus is provided in USF dining halls. Hewlett-Packard (HP) HP is a primary contractor of Basel System, Matrix, Tact Testware and Israels biometric ID card system. Approximately 4 million Palestinians are affected daily by the checkpoint system and the separation wall that are supported with technology from HP. HP provides technology services to Israels army and participates in businesses in the illegal West Bank settlement of Ariel. Hewlett-Packard products are sold at USF venues, including the USF computer store. Wellington Small Cap and Value Wellington Management, the parent company of Wellington Small Cap Value, is a major owner of Rapiscan Systems, which manufactures security scanners through its Israel representative, Hashmira (also known as G4S Israel). Wellington Management is also the largest shareholder for Terex, which produces trucks, floodlights and other construction equipment for the building of the Separation Wall. Terexs equipment is also used for the development of checkpoints near the Ofer prison and detention center and the Deir Sharaf checkpoint in the West Bank. As of September 30, 2012, USF Foundation had investments worth $9.0 million in Wellington Small Cap Value.

The ballot and the university news outlets made it clear that this was a vote on whether the student body wanted to divest from corporations with known affiliations to Israeli apartheid Sabra Hummus, Hewlett-Packard, and Wellington Small Cap and Value.

Copyright 2013 Students for Justice in Palestine at University of South Florida, All rights reserved.

Legal counsel and Goff pressure ERC

Student government contacted SJP again on the last day of elections Thursday, February 28. Adamchak had met with student government at 8 AM on the morning of February 28. She ridiculously compared the divestment legislation to KKK activity by stating, What if the KKK proposed a referendum on whether black people should not be allowed at the university? The question not only showcased the Adamchaks limited critical thinking skills but also displayed the dramatic steps she was undertaking to suppress the student voice. Adamchak introduced a new argument with her convoluted interpretations of Florida statutes and university statues: She said it was illegal for a student employee to directly or indirectly advice where a government entity spends its commodities. She claimed was illegal for the university to discriminate against corporations.

Goff simultaneously released Executive Memorandum #12 which formally pressured the Election Rules Commission (ERC) to declare the results invalid. SJP called in lawyers from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). CAIR brought in its legal team. The legal team also consulted the American Civil Liberties Union and the First Amendment Center. The legal team made it clear that the argument was invalid on several counts. The student body is not composed of government employees, therefore this law does not apply to the non-binding student referendum. The referendum is non-binding. The referendum is legal and simply an outlet to exercise first amendment right as Americans to freedom of speech.

Copyright 2013 Students for Justice in Palestine at University of South Florida, All rights reserved.

Election results
On March 1st, it was still unclear whether the results would be announced and the results certified. The election results were set to be announced at 3:00 PM. At 2:46 PM, a mass email by the Goff was released to the entire university student body and faculty. The email announced that the referendum would not be certified and the results would be annulled. At 3:00 PM, the results of the election were announced. This was a surprise victory for SJP. Referendum #1 Yes 2575 60.45% No 454 10.66% No Preference 1231 28.90% Total 4260 For Referendum #1, 2130 votes needed for passage Referendum #2 Yes 2111 49.55% No 609 14.30% No preference 1540 36.15% Total 4260 For Referendum #2, 2130 votes needed for passage

But the results were not certified. Goffs email did not explain why the results were decertified and attacked the referendum allegedly due to a large amount of confusion, the lack of notice and the inconsistencies in the referendum. Goff hid the actual reason it was decertified. It was decertified by a technicality that Student Government failed to follow. One of the requirements for a referendum was publicly announcing the referendum 1 week before elections and informing the student body. But student government was never interested in explaining the referendum to the student body. It was too busy doing everything it can to prevent the referendum from entering the ballot.

Copyright 2013 Students for Justice in Palestine at University of South Florida, All rights reserved.

Furthur information
Kumar, Divya. "Hillel lecture supports Israels right of defense." The Oracle. University of South Florida, 20 Nov. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. <http://www.usforacle.com/hillel-lecture-supports-israel-s-right-ofdefense-1.2796163#.UXM-j4b4aHs>. Rosenthal, Alex. "Group petitions for Palestinian resolution in SG senate." The Oracle. University of South Florida, 2 June 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. <http://www.usforacle.com/group-petitions-forpalestinian-resolution-in-sg-senate-1.2808222#.UXNdFob4aHs>. Kumar, Divya. "Divestment referendum ignites debate ." The Oracle. University of South Florida, 28 Feb. 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. <http://www.usforacle.com/divestment-referendum-ignites-debate1.2814076#.UXQQf4b4aHs>. Kumar, Divya. "Divestment referendum discounted from ballots." The Oracle. University of South Florida, 1 Mar. 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. <http://www.usforacle.com/divestment-referendumdiscounted-from-ballots-1.2814589#.UXQRPIb4aHs>. Tarabishy, Dana. "Students should be able to decide where the money ... goes." The Oracle. University of South Florida, 4 Mar. 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2013. <http://www.usforacle.com/letter-to-the-editorstudents-should-be-able-to-decide-where-the-money-goes-1.2814818#.UXQT0Ib4aHs>.

Copyright 2013 Students for Justice in Palestine at University of South Florida, All rights reserved.