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A majority of undergraduates who responded to a Harvard Undergraduate Association survey reported believing Harvard should divest from and disclose investments in “companies and institutions operating in Israel,” according to a partially redacted copy of the results obtained by The Crimson.

While the HUA Election Commission refused to publicly release the results of the survey questions, which were submitted by two pro-Palestine student groups, they confirmed earlier on Wednesday that 8.4 percent of the roughly 7,000 students in Harvard College — slightly less than 600 students — responded “yes” to the question on divestment.

A slightly higher share of the total student body, 9.3 percent, said Harvard should disclose its investments in Israel.

The Election Commission declined to provide a total number of respondents, saying only that more than 80 percent of the student body indicated an “uncertain” response to the divestment question, skipped the question, or did not fill out the survey.

But the redacted copy of the results obtained by The Crimson included the total number of votes cast in the Sports Team Office Election — 1055 — an election respondents had to participate in to answer any of the optional survey questions about Harvard’s ties to Israel.

Even if all other voters in the Sports Team Officer election answered the survey question on divestment from Israel and responded “no,” rather than skipping or answering “uncertain” to the question, at least 55 percent of total survey respondents voted in favor of divestment from Israel.

Based on similar calculations, a majority of students also said they thought Harvard should disclose investments in Israel.

It is still uncertain which way a majority of students voted in response to a question submitted by Harvard Jews for Peace asking whether Harvard should have adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism, which opponents fear could be used to classify certain criticisms of Israel as antisemitic.

Spokespeople for Harvard College and the University did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

But with roughly 15 percent turnout among the study body, all the results still have a question mark hanging over them — particularly after an opaque election process meant few students were informed of the survey’s presence. Roughly 28 percent of the student body voted in the last HUA presidential election.

The Election Commission sent a single email announcing the start of the voting window in the election to fill the HUA’s Sports Team Officer position, which took place concurrently with the survey period, and barred campaigning from student groups that submitted questions. Survey respondents were required to vote for a Sports Team Officer before proceeding to the survey, which also included a series of questions on campus life submitted by the HUA, which operates separately from the Election Commission.

Many students interviewed by The Crimson on Tuesday, shortly before the close of voting, said they were not aware of the survey questions.

The survey results put Harvard College on the list of graduate schools whose students have already indicated support for divestment. Student governments at Harvard Law School, the Harvard Divinity School, and the Graduate School of Design all passed resolutions last year urging the University to divest from Israel or from entities involved in human rights violations against Palestinians. Harvard School of Public Health and Law School students also passed referenda supporting divestment — though turnout in the HSPH vote was low.

But the HUA and the College have done their best to avoid appearing to endorse a divestment vote. Assistant Dean of Student Engagement and Leadership Andy Donahue and the Election Commission emphasized throughout the survey process that the results “have no impact on the Harvard Undergraduate Association, Harvard College, or Harvard University.”

Donahue and the Election Commission also did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening.

The survey process itself was adopted after the PSC’s attempt in spring 2024 to call a referendum on divestment from Israel, which the HUA halted indefinitely. The HUA’s co-presidents at the time announced — after work on a problem-solving committee stalled — that the student government would not approve referenda on topics unrelated to HUA policy.

And an undergraduate vote is unlikely to push Harvard toward divestment from Israel, a prospect that Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 has refused in no uncertain terms. Garber also declined a request by Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine, the unrecognized activist coalition that staged the spring 2024 encampment in Harvard Yard, to review Harvard’s investments for ties to human rights violations.

Garber told HOOP in an October 2024 email that the University “will not use its endowment funds to endorse a contested view on a complex issue that deeply divides our community.”

If anything, the results of the survey that closed Tuesday indicate that students remain split over divestment proposals — but the majority outcome in favor of divestment is likely to bring Harvard back under a national microscope for the pro-Palestine views of many of its students.

The Election Commission initially intended to release at least partial survey results to the student groups that submitted questions, but the status of those disclosures remains unclear.

—Staff writer Julia A. Karabolli can be reached at julia.karabolli@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Claire L. Simon can be reached at claire.simon@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @ClaireSimon.