Jewish leaders at Georgetown University praised the decision to postpone a referendum on university divestment from companies and academic institutions with ties to Israel — originally scheduled to take place during the Passover holiday — as a “step in the right direction,” but expressed that concerns remain about the impact of the vote on Jewish students.

Georgetown University Student Government Association (GUSA) announced Sunday night on Instagram that the voting window for the non-binding referendum would be changed from April 14-16 to April 26-28. The decision came after pushback from Jewish groups, which were concerned that the vote was originally set to be held during Passover when many students are out of town. 

“While this is a step in the right direction, I don’t see this as a win. It’s a small fix in a much bigger problem — one that’s left many students feeling hurt and alienated,” Rabbi Menachem Shemtov, who leads Georgetown Chabad, told Jewish Insider. 

Shemtov said that while he’s glad the vote was moved — adding that, “actually, I think many believe that such a vote shouldn’t be scheduled at all” —  the postponement “doesn’t undo the deeper issue,” he said. 

GUSA bypassed its standard protocols to bring forth the referendum. Sixteen of the 28 members of the GUSA voted in favor of a resolution to put the divestment question before the undergraduate student body. The initial vote, held last week, was done in secret and without the approval of the senate’s Policy and Advocacy Committee — breaking from typical procedure, the university’s student newspaper, The Hoya, reported. The referendum will require at least 25% turnout and a simple majority of voters in favor to pass. 

Georgetown holds investments in companies including Google’s holding company Alphabet and Amazon, both of which have provided technology to the Israel Defense Forces. 

“This vote still singles out Israel in a way that feels unfair, and the fact that it was pushed forward by skipping normal procedures only makes it worse,” Shemtov said. “It’s hard not to feel like there was an effort to sideline Jewish voices, or at least not take them seriously. It’s also hard to see how such a resolution brings us closer to peace. On the contrary, it actually deepens the divide amongst students and causes more friction on campus.” 

Furthermore, GUSA did not postpone a vote for student government senators, which will proceed this week during the holiday. 

“That inadvertently singles out Jewish student groups for favoritism or bias as some are claiming, which is not the case,” Rabbi Ilana Zietman, Georgetown’s director of Jewish life, told JI. “Jewish students would have been happier with postponing all student government matters until after the holiday,” she said.

“Postponing the referendum vote till after Passover was the right move in terms of religious inclusion and a fair process,” Zietman continued. “It took collaboration with GUSA and relationships our students have across the aisle to communicate that need.”

Ahead of the postponement, GUSA was flooded with hundreds of emails condemning the decision to put the referendum on the ballot — including at least one which copied the Office of Civil Rights, according to the campus news magazine Georgetown Voice. 

The referendum comes against a backdrop of several antisemitic incidents that have occurred on Georgetown’s campus since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks. As the Trump administration issues demands to elite universities to crack down on antisemitic activity on campus — or risk losing federal funding — Georgetown’s administration has been less deferential than other schools. Last month, it issued statements supportive of Badar Khan Suri, a university professor and postdoctoral scholar who was detained by federal authorities for his reported affiliations with Hamas. 

On Thursday, Zietman announced a newly formed coalition of about two dozen pro-Israel Georgetown University faculty. One of the group’s first actions was to send a letter to Georgetown’s Committee on Investments and Social Responsibility urging it to reject another Israel divestment proposal, this one from the Georgetown University Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine and the Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.