University of Utah staffers speaks out after school announces partnership with Israeli university

SALT LAKE CITY — A group of faculty, staff and students are petitioning against the University of Utah after the school signed a partnership with an Israeli university in the West Bank.

A petition headed by Faculty for Justice in Palestine is now making the rounds. They petition authors are taking issue with the U’s partnership with Ariel University.

Related: University of Utah among 50+ universities facing federal investigations as part of Trump’s anti-DEI campaign

Associate Professor of History and Gender Studies Maile Arvin said the campus is in occupied Palestinian territory.

“Ariel University is located in the West Bank in an Israeli settlement,” Arvin said. “For folks who don’t know about the West Bank, it’s really important to educate ourselves.”  

Arvin said that West Bank is segregated and divided and often called an apartheid state. Settlements like Ariel are closed to Palestinians. 

“Like it’s very clear that this institution [Ariel University] in particular supports apartheid in Israel and they [University of Utah] shouldn’t have signed this agreement,” Arvin said. 

The university didn’t consult the Middle East experts at the school, according to Arvin.

“It’s actually kind of humiliating that they don’t seem to value the expertise of their own faculty,” said Arvin. 

Hours after the announcement the school changed their statement to say the West Bank is located in the occupied Palestinian territories.

University officials say agreement, a memorandum of understanding, is common

In a press release published on June 5, the University of Utah explained the relationship with Ariel University.

The university routinely signs agreements with colleges and universities around the world. Currently, the U has more than 100 such agreements … Global partnership MOUs usually are initiated by faculty as a result of relationships they have developed around the world in their research, teaching and mentorship activities … As a public institution, the University of Utah will discuss MOUs with any college or university.”

The author of the press release said the critics’ concerns about the MOU serving as a statement of support of Israel in its war in Gaza, or that the MOU represents a divergence from Utah law requiring institutional neutrality, are both untrue.

The University also said in the press release that it began discussions around the MOU in 2023, before Israel launched its offensive in Gaza.

The goal of the petition against the University of Utah

Arvin said the university shouldn’t have signed the agreement and their main goal of the petition is to end it. But he said there’s a more long-term goal. 

According to Arvin the past year has been really hard for faculty members at the University of Utah because the upper administration has consistent acted without consulting faculty.

“We want them to end the agreement and for any future kind of MOUs like this to just really you know consult its own experts first at the very least,” said Arvin.