Long Beach City College divested from BlackRock in June of this year, but students and staff were unaware of the school’s decision for the majority of the fall semester.
Despite recent calls for divestment from Pro-Palestinian protestors, LBCC chose to sell its investment due to BlackRock’s lackluster financial performance, according to Superintendent-President Mike Munoz.
“It was determined that the stock was not financially sound,” Munoz said.
According to Munoz, public comments from pro-Palestinian protesters at the Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 11 prompted him to request more information from LBCC’s chief marketing officer about the college’s holdings in BlackRock and other investment firms.
When the report came back, it was discovered that any investments the college had with BlackRock had already been quietly sold prior to the beginning of the fall semester.
BlackRock is an investment company with portfolios that include investments in defense contractors and weapons companies like RTX and L3Harrris that sell weapons to Israel.
A protestor holds a flag in the street as she marches down the street while wearing a keffiyeh at a recent Palestinian Youth Movement march in Pershing Square in Los Angeles. (Sam Villa)
LBCC’s investment in BlackRock has been a point of contention among a small group of pro-Palestinian student activists, who have organized different on-campus protests calling for the school to divest from BlackRock.
However, it is important to reiterate that the college did not sell its stocks in BlackRock as a show of support for the pro-Palestininan cause.
“To my knowledge, we do not currently have any more investments in BlackRock,” Munoz said.
Student Trustee G Gonzalez has been a vocal supporter of divestment, stating as much during his Student Trustee report during the first Board of Trustees meeting of this semester.
Gonzalez was pleased to learn that LBCC had sold its share of the mutual fund in BlackRock, even if it was not directly a pro-Palestinian action.
“This is a first step, there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done,” Gonzalez said.