Student protests call on Stanford to divest from Palantir

Over 100 students, faculty and staff staged a walkout in White Plaza on Wednesday afternoon, protesting the alleged financial and academic ties Stanford has to defense technology company Palantir.

Demonstrators held up signs reading “PURGE PALANTIR” and “PALANTIR KILLS” amid chants for divestment. Palantir, which was co-founded by Peter Thiel ’89 J.D. ’92, has drawn criticism from civil liberties groups for its role in immigration enforcement and military operations. 

Amidst the protesters, many wearing keffiyehs, a traditional Palestinian garment, were several administrators, accompanied by campus police. The walkout was coordinated by multiple activism groups on campus, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Tech for Liberation, among others. They accused University administration of refusing to engage in dialogue or publicly respond to their concerns, despite prior actions, like a hunger strike last spring.

The University did not respond to a request for comment. 

SJP member and walkout organizer Amanda Campos ’26 said that Stanford and Palantir have “long-known ties that must be brought into the light.”

Campos and other organizers pointed to Stanford-affiliated venture capital funds, including Founders Fund — co-founded by Thiel — as early investors in the company. Citing The Daily’s coverage, Campos said that while Stanford does not disclose individual holdings, its endowment is known to invest heavily in private equity and venture capital funds. 

Several students attending the rally emphasized that the walkout was rooted in a belief that universities must align their actions with the critical values they teach. 

In a message to The Daily, rally attendee Samantha Dizon ’26 cited a statement from Stanford Tech for Liberation that asked, “If Stanford arms, funds and inspires the kidnapping of our neighbors and families, what does this mean for our education?” 

Others challenged Stanford’s assertion of institutional neutrality. “In a time where my tuition is directly being funneled into war, genocide and oppression, and in a time where the technology developed and funded by [her] university is helping kidnap and surveil [her] neighbors and peers, institutional silence is anything but neutral,” said Juhae Song ’28, another organizer.

Protestors also criticized the University’s institutional endorsement of Palantir through recruiting pipelines and academic programming, noting that Palantir executives have lectured or taught courses at Stanford in recent years. Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar, for example, taught the course CS153 in 2025. Thiel taught the class CS183 on Startups in 2012.

While attendees of the protest criticized defense technology companies’ recruitment of Stanford students, interest in the field has remained strong on campus. The Stanford Technology and National Security Conference, hosted by the Gordian Knot Center, is the highest attended of its kind in the country. There are also a number of clubs present on campus catering to students’ interests in national security. 

However, organizers with SJP argued that Palantir’s work with U.S. immigration authorities and foreign militaries violates Stanford’s own Statement on Investment Responsibility, which allows divestment in cases involving “apartheid, genocide, human trafficking, slavery and violations of child labor laws.” 

Another student, who requested to stay anonymous in fear of retaliation, said the rally’s timing — immediately following a vigil to grieve victims of ICE raids — was intentional. “We remembered and humanized the victims and then we called on the complicit powers,” they said.

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