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Pro-Palestinian students and supporters occupied a plaza at New York University on 26 April. (Photo: David de Delgado/Reuters)

College campuses across the United States have been rocked by pro-Palestinian protests this month.

Although protesters’ demands varied from university to university, almost all protests called for universities to disengage from Israel in some way.

But disinvestment may not be so easy for many educational institutions. Although there are some historical precedents for disinvestment, universities have so far refused to budge.

Here’s what you need to know:

What is disinvestment?

Protesters in Colombia and at universities across the country chanted, “Reveal, reveal, we will not stop, we will not rest.”

Simply put, disinvestment is the opposite of investment.

Many colleges have an endowment, which is donated money that is typically invested in stocks, bonds, and other financial instruments to help the college make money.

Student protesters protesting Israel’s military action in Gaza are demanding that their universities sell investments in companies linked to Israel.

However, the scope of those demands varies by university.

For example, at Columbia, which some consider the epicenter of the recent student protest movement, a student coalition called Columbia University Apartheid Divest wants the university to divest its $13.6 billion endowment from any companies associated with Israel. This includes tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet that have business ties to Israel.

Protesters at other universities such as Cornell and Yale are calling on their schools to simply stop investing in arms manufacturers.

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