217 Today: Pro-Palestinian students want universities to stop investing in companies with ties to Israel

Bottles painted the colors of the Palestinian flag by student activists hang at the center of the University of Chicago quad in November. Students at UChicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago and other local universities are demanding their institutions cut off investments to companies doing business in Israel or manufacturing weapons.

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Today’s headlines: 

  • A proposed tax cut for Illinois families would reduce child poverty by eight percent, according to research from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute.
  • Yesterday marked 51 years since the U.S. Supreme Court granted nationwide abortion access with their decision in Roe v. Wade decision.
  • A Great Lakes advocacy organization is asking that fish companies commit to using up every part of each commercially caught fish by 2025. 

In today’s deep dive, we’ll learn more about how student demands for divestment are raising questions about where and how universities invest.

Reporting today contributed by Mawa Iqbal, Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco and Lisa Kurian Philip.

Farrah Anderson

Farrah Anderson is a 2024 graduate of the University of Illinois. At Illinois Public Media, Anderson works as a general assignment reporter focusing on police and investigative stories.