By Ethan Cohen
Calls for institutional accountability and solidarity with international students took center stage as students rallied behind a proposed Associated Students Inc. resolution urging Long Beach State to sever ties with corporations complicit in war and border enforcement.
Backed by the CSULB Divest coalition, students packed the ASI Senate meeting on Wednesday, April 16, to advocate for Student Resolution #2025-14, which aims to pressure the university to engage only with companies and corporations that will not harm vulnerable student communities.
The resolution passed by a vote of 13-2-0 and seeks to align the university’s financial and institutional relationships with its mission of serving the public good, particularly by distancing itself from companies involved in the military-industrial and border-industrial complexes.
An extended public comment session saw multiple students tie the legislation to broader concerns about federal policies. This included the recent revocation of visas for six Long Beach State students—an issue speakers described as emblematic of the growing risks international students face amid geopolitical unrest.
“Much of this started on Columbia University’s campus when one of their main negotiators, Mahmoud Khalil, was [arrested] for expressing his views on the Palestinian resistance, and that just seemed to domino effect,” CSULB alumni Amy Wesselman, 30, said. “So many international students [had their visas revoked] and it’s heart-wrenching that it reached Long Beach.”
ASI Executive Vice President Matt Melendrez, who chaired the meeting, said student leaders moved quickly in response to the visa revocations. They arranged meetings with campus resource groups like the Dream Success Center and with CSULB President Jane Close Conoley to better understand the situation.
“What we are doing is reflective on helping out the students in any way that we can possible,” Melendrez said. “That is perfectly aligned with our resolution, because it’s talking about separating our relations with corporations that contribute to the harms that our students are currently going through.”
While most student senators supported the resolution, ASI Senator of Business Quinn Bentley cast a “safe opposition” vote, expressing agreement with parts of the resolution but raising concerns about fully endorsing its implications.
“I’m a representative for all students, not just the ones I agree with [on] their positions on contentious issues,” Bentley said in a text message. “I’m in an MBA program, and I have had classmates that work for Raytheon and [Northrop Grumman]. They like their career at those companies and joined the MBA program so they could move up in those companies.”
Bentley stressed he believes the university can “develop partnerships without taking away these opportunities” for students.
Geology graduate student Vincent Ruiz speaks during public comment at the ASI Senate meeting in the Farber Senate Chambers on Wednesday, April 16. Ruiz spoke on behalf of the Fight for Science Coalition, which represents students conducting research, and emphasized the need to protect international students conducting research. Photo credit: Ethan Cohen
Other students, including 26-year-old geology graduate Vincent Ruiz, used public comment to highlight the growing challenges and environment international students face in scientific research and higher education.
“Many of my colleagues are actually international students, and they’re afraid that their education is heavily at risk if they speak out, saying, ‘Hey, we need this funding to study cancer research, HIV research, physics research, geology, climate change research,’” Ruiz said. “They’re afraid that if they speak out, they will be taken away because a lot of them are on visas.”
Melendrez emphasized the need for student unity, calling on peers to stand together in defense of student rights and to stay actively engaged in efforts to create meaningful change on campus.
“I think the most important thing for us as students is solidarity and making sure that we’re all pushing in a united front to make sure that we’re keeping our most vulnerable students safe on campus,” Melendrez said.
