On March 7, The Lantern published a story stating that Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost advised Ohio State to remove the Undergraduate Student Government initiative urging the university to divest from companies in Israel from the ballot. This information is incorrect.
The Lantern recently received a letter showing university President Ted Carter Jr. sought advice from the attorney general’s office about whether or not the university could divest from Israeli assets. The office responded by stating that doing so would violate Ohio Revised Code Section 9.76.
The university then made the decision to completely remove USG’s initiative from the ballot on March 4.
“Further, the University may not adopt or adhere to a policy of refusing to deal with or otherwise limit commercial relations with Israel or with any persons or entities associated with it,” Jonathan Blanton, first assistant attorney general, said in a letter to Carter.
