Straws in the Wind - Part 232

From the Yale Daily News: The committee that makes recommendations to the Yale Corporation about the University’s investments last week rejected a proposal for Yale to divest from several military and natural resource companies, including the data analysis and technology firm Palantir. The Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility’s rejection email, which was posted on the Instagram page of the Endowment Justice Collective, a student group, said the committee decided to reject the students’ proposals to divest from the British oil company BP and gas companies Ring Energy and LNG because “neither topic meets criteria for a divestment recommendation.” ...Palantir has previously denied its involvement in surveillance operations but reaffirmed its “support of and solidarity with Israel” in April 2025.

...In the email he sent to students, [Committee Chair] Gillingham said that the proposals did not meet the criteria for divestment as outlined on the committee’s FAQ page, which references a “very high bar” for divestment drawn from “The Ethical Investor,” a guide written by Yale professors in 1972 for making investment decisions... 

Full story at https://yaledailynews.com/articles/investor-responsibility-committee-rejects-students-divestment-pitches.

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From Inside Higher Ed: All Florida public universities would be banned from hiring foreign workers on H-1B visas under a policy change that the Florida Board of Governors will consider next week. Next Thursday, the board’s Nomination and Governance Committee will consider adding to a policy a line saying the universities can’t “utilize the H-1B program in its personnel program to hire any new employees through January 5, 2027.” If the committee and full Board of Governors approve the addition, there will be a 14-day public comment period. The proposal... comes after Florida governor Ron DeSantis ordered the state’s public universities in October to “pull the plug on the use of these H-1B visas.” Fourteen of the Board of Governors’ 17 members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/01/22/florida-proposes-h-1b-hiring-ban-all-public-universities.