## Document record - Publisher: University of Toronto, Office of the President - Date: 2024-04-08 - Type: Primary record - Establishes: That the University of Toronto refused the demand to end partnerships with Israeli institutions on 8 April 2024, on the ground that academic boycotts are contrary to the university's mission. - Original: https://president.utoronto.ca/president-meric-gertlers-response-to-members-of-occupy-for-palestine/ - Archived copy: No archived copy yet. - Citation id: S025 # President Meric Gertler's response to members of Occupy for Palestine ## What this document is This is a letter published by the Office of the President of the University of Toronto on 8 April 2024, answering demands put to the university by the campus group Occupy for Palestine [S025]. It predates the encampment on King's College Circle, which began on 2 May 2024, and it is therefore the university's position as stated before the encampment rather than a response to it. ## What it establishes The university refused the academic-boycott demand outright. The letter states that academic boycotts of any kind are antithetical to the university's fundamental mission and values, and on that basis rejects the demand to terminate partnerships with Israeli institutions [S025]. It describes the refusal as consistent with a longstanding position, dating back at least to the 1980s [S025]. The rejection is framed as a defence of academic freedom, freedom of expression and the unfettered circulation of ideas within the global scholarly community [S025]. The letter also addresses divestment, recording that the university does not divest in response to political demands under its divestment policy, and that its pension assets moved to the University Pension Plan in 2021 [S025]. This document does the work on this site that no press report can do: it is the university speaking for itself, in advance, in writing, and it is the reason the site states that the University of Toronto has refused the academic boycott rather than merely declined to act on it. ## Key passages The letter states that "academic boycotts of any kind are antithetical to the University's fundamental mission and values" [S025]. The words are the president's own and are quoted here as his. ## How it is used on this site The letter is cited on [Does the University of Toronto support BDS?](/claims/does-university-of-toronto-support-bds/), [the 2024 encampment](/claims/uoft-encampment-2024/), [arguments against BDS](/claims/arguments-against-bds/), [Canada's position on BDS](/claims/canada-position-on-bds/) and [the UTSU divestment vote](/claims/utsu-divestment-vote-2022/), and in the [glossary](/glossary/), [key facts](/key-facts/) and [timeline](/timeline/). ## Provenance and access The letter is published on the president's own website and fetches normally. No Internet Archive snapshot of it exists. Under this site's sourcing rules a pivotal source must carry an archived copy, and this is among the most heavily cited documents on the site. ## Page history 2026-09-21: First draft.