It took two years and a legal fight for CUNY to disclose where its money is invested. Two student groups — CUNY for Palestine and CUNY Law Students for Justice in Palestine — filed a Freedom of Information Law request. CUNY denied it until it could not anymore.
CUNY’s 2025 holdings report showed investments in defense contractors such as Caterpillar, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Palantir.
It also showed investments in Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer. The portfolio included private prison companies GEO Group and CoreCivic as well.
It was revealed that the CUNY system also holds stock in Israeli banks that help finance settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The report stated that CUNY’s investment in weapons manufacturers supplying Israel’s military is more than $715,000. Such a fact should concern anyone paying tuition or taxes into the system.
CUNY runs on state tax dollars and student tuition, so students and the public deserve to know where that money goes. CUNY student Hadeeqa Malik said that this affects “anyone who lives in New York state,” not just students on campus.
However, CUNY is not fully in control of where their stock investments go. The university said it is legally barred from boycotting specific countries or companies.
Most of their investments likely run through third-party asset managers, not CUNY officials themselves.
That limits how much blame CUNY deserves for the investments. It does not explain the two-year fight to hide them.
Not being able to divest is one thing. Refusing to say what it is invested in is another. Transparency is not a boycott.
A public university that is willing to fight this hard to hide its books owes an explanation to its students.
CUNY should not need a lawsuit to be upfront about its money.
Disclosing its investments regularly costs nothing legally. Doingso would also go a long way toward rebuilding trust with the people funding it.
Being stuck between federal rules and public pressure is understandable.
Hiding information from the people whose money is on the line is unjust. CUNY can follow the law and still be honest about its money. Right now, it is doing neither.
