The Spire

Ian Sykes ’28

Staff Writer

On October 27, 2025, the Holy Cross Student Social Justice Collective gathered for a demonstration in protest of the continued injustice and genocide that has been waged against the people of Palestine. While the demonstration has been lauded by many members of our campus community, some others reacted to it differently, with some even baselessly accusing the demonstrators of spreading “antisemitism” and of advocating for violence against Jewish people. Despite the defamation levied against our group, I, as an organizer for the SSJC, hold that the central purpose of that rally was unwavering: to advocate for people on the margins, both in America and elsewhere. As such, we in the SSJC are beholden to, and committed to living out, the Holy Cross mission that asks us to look out for others—regardless of our individual faiths.

Was that demonstration not an enactment of our Holy Cross mission—speaking out for the vulnerable? To accuse members of the Holy Cross community who engaged in a peaceful demonstration of “advocating for violence,” or otherwise for hate, is appalling and disingenuous. 

Is it antisemetic to speak out against war crimes that are being flagrantly committed against a civilian population? No. Does advocating for Palestinian sovereignty mean that we are also inciting violence against the Jewish people? Hell no. Though it must be acknowledged that internet conjecture (from where these statements came) is not representative of the student body, we will not stand for this defamation. We are students, activists, and most importantly, advocates who are committed to seeing our mission as an institution carried out.

That brings me to this point. Despite our enactment of the mission as a student collective here, Holy Cross itself, that being the college administration, has seemed less than inclined to really live out the mission themselves with respect to speaking out against Israel’s genocide.

We in the SSJC recognize that Holy Cross is encumbered by a lot of interests, and as such, they must weigh their decisions carefully. We also recognize that existing in a globalized and internationally intertwined economy can make it hard to break ties with companies that have ties to Israel one way or another. As such, we should be wary of being unrealistic, and subscribing too heavily into idealism.

But is our mission not idealism?

Our mission tells us to “care for one another’s physical and mental well-being, seek justice for the marginalized, and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those in need.” It’s on our front page. It makes HC unique. So, with our mission in mind, why won’t we boycott, divest, and sanction the biggest supporters of Israel & their flagrant war crimes? We consistently support corporations like Starbucks, Google, and Raytheon, all of which are either supporters of Israel, or are directly complicit in the genocide. We have a Starbucks, we all use Google, and our very own Center for Career Development has confidently shilled RTX (a subsidiary of Raytheon,) a company that supplies Israel with their weapons, to our students. 

Why is Holy Cross supporting these companies that profit from senseless killing? Why are we lazily backsliding ourselves as an institution complicit in this neocolonialism, apartheid, and genocide?

What is the point of our mission if we selectively ignore it?

When I, alongside another leader of the SSJC, asked a CCD representative directly about why Holy Cross has fostered ties with a company like Raytheon, they made the mission sound like an afterthought. While I am not someone who proclaims to be a righteous voice with no faults on this issue, I must ask: is Holy Cross’ mission contingent on the students, or on our educational leaders? Why should we bother following the mission if our school brushes it aside when things get hard?

We cannot stand for this mission-drift as a Jesuit-Catholic institution rooted in mission, especially in this pivotal moment. In these challenging times, our Jesuit-Catholic roots clearly tell us to speak out; but if we ignore them, we gain complicity in these worldly injustices that would make Jesus cry, and we lose.

“Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.” – Proverbs 31:8-9

Featured image courtesy of Vatican News

Copy Edited by Colette Potter ‘26