University of Michigan’s Student Government Removes Two Anti-Israel Activists from Leadership
The student government at the University of Michigan has removed its top two leaders, who vowed to block funding for campus groups unless the university agreed to divest from companies accused of profiting from the Israel–Hamas war.
The student assembly’s president and vice president, Alifa Chowdhury and Elias Atkinson, were officially ousted late on Monday after they were impeached last month, the New York Times reported. Each received a guilty count of dereliction of duty for either missing council meetings or failing to organize them.
Chowdhury and Atkinson were elected last spring after running under the Shut It Down party. Given its name, the candidates’ intentions were apparent.
The two student leaders withheld $1.3 million in annual funding designated for 400 campus groups until their demand for total divestment could be met. The university was unwilling to agree to this demand and instead opted to lend money to the groups itself.
On October 8, the student government voted to reinstate the funding during a fraught meeting attended by anti-Israel protesters. Chowdhury and Atkinson reportedly encouraged protesters to shout at the assembly speaker, spit on an intern, and follow assembly members to their cars and insult them, according to the Michigan Review. They were accused of doing nothing to stop the unrest.
The activist leaders then took control of the student government’s Instagram account, locking out other members and changing the password in the process.
Their efforts were viewed as unproductive as they did little to help the cause of Palestinians in Gaza and only further alienated the student body.
Margaret Peterman, a student government member who filed the impeachment motion, said their conduct in office and refusal to address the student body’s needs were “inexcusable,” according to the Times.
Both were accused of inciting violence against members of the student government, and Chowdhury was accused of cyber access violations. However, those allegations did not stick. Only the two dereliction of duty counts passed a guilty verdict.
Monday’s move marked the first time that a president and vice president has ever been impeached and removed in the University of Michigan student government’s history, the student-run Michigan Review noted.
The speaker of the student assembly, Mario Thaqi, will finish the ousted president’s term while a replacement for vice president can be chosen.
“It doesn’t matter if you hate me or not — we’re still representatives of the entire student body,” Thaqi told the Times. “That’s very important to me in dealing with the backlash after this impeachment vote and making sure that our campus doesn’t become more divided.”
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