Sarah Aleissa

Group of LSJP members in front of UofL’s Speed School for Engineering protesting against the career fair and the companies that UofL hosted there.

Eleven students gathered outside of the University of Louisville’s Speed School of Engineering, which was hosting a career fair, on Thursday, Sept. 11. The students urged the university to cut ties with companies that were supporting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

The picket, which was organized by Louisville Students for Justice in Palestine (LSJP), took place near Cardinal Stadium, where LSJP members held up signs that said “UofL Divest” and “Speed Kills.” Members of LSJP also chanted in solidarity with Palestine and in opposition to what they described as UofL’s “complicity in genocide.”

“This is part of our broader divestment campaign,” said an LSJP organizer who asked to remain anonymous. “We’re specifically targeting partnerships the Speed School holds with companies aiding and abetting genocide in Gaza. Students overwhelmingly do not agree with these partnerships, so why would our university continue them?” they said.

The protest occurred on Sept. 11, the same day as the Speed School’s 2025 career fair which was hosted at UofL’s new $90 million engineering building. According to LSJP’s Instagram account, many of the career fair’s featured companies had direct ties to the Israeli military. GE Aerospace and Gulfstream Aerospace are both companies that manufacture jet engines and aircraft that LSJP says are used in strikes on civilians in Gaza. LSJP also stated that Gulfstream announced in 2021 that it had delivered a surveillance aircraft to the Israeli Air Force.

Another sponsor of the career fair, Heidelberg Materials, has used its concrete and gravel in the construction of the occupied settlements in the West Bank. Safran, a French aerospace firm, has been supplying Israel with electronic components for Israel’s Arrow 3 anti-missile system. Safran has been doing so under a renewed deal with Israel’s Defense Forces. 

Toyota is also a sponsor that LSJP emphasized. Toyota’s role as a supplier of vehicles to the Israeli police and military, including the David Urban Light Armored Vehicle which has been used in crowd control. Israel uses these Toyota vehicles to transport and protect IDF and Border Patrol soldiers throughout the West Bank and Gaza.

“We want the Speed School of Engineers to end partnerships with those companies, to stop sending students to work for those companies,” the anonymous organizer said. LSJP has continually criticized UofL’s ties to these companies as well as what they’ve described as the university’s personal and professional affiliations between companies that have Israeli defense contracts.

“This isn’t just about the Speed School,” the organizer said. “We want the university to end partnerships across the board, in every facet of administration. UofL shouldn’t be doing something that so many students disagree with.”

The picket at UofL’s Speed School reflects students’ concerns over UofL’s corporate ties, aiming to draw attention to the university’s partnerships and pressure administration to take accountability for their actions.

Gallery • 5 Photos

Sarah Aleissa

LSJP members hold up a banner that says “No Rest Until UofL Divests” at their picket in front of UofL’s Speed School of Engineering.