Students are calling on the Matthews Center to cancel an event next week with Davidson alums and Palantir Technologies employees Andy Baay ‘17 and Dana Schrock ‘19. Five student organizations penned open letters to the Matthews Center at the time of publication on Friday afternoon.
Palantir, a notoriously secretive software and data analysis company, uses artificial intelligence and data mining for national security purposes. The Trump administration contracted the agency to compile sensitive data on Americans and track immigrants’ movements. Palantir also has a close partnership with the Israeli Defense Forces.
Palantir CEO Alex Karp is also an outspoken critic of higher education, calling elite colleges and universities hubs of “debt” and “indoctrination.”
The Matthews Center is hosting two events: a “Palantir Info Session” and “Palantir Coffee Chats” on Nov. 18. Baay and Schrock will lead an info session on the company, which the event posting describes as a software company that “powers AI-driven decisions in critical government and commercial enterprises in the West” with platforms that “feature advanced tools for data protection, governance, responsible use of AI, and civilian protection capabilities for defense application.” Baay and Schrock will also meet one on one with students to discuss job opportunities. The events are being advertised on Handshake and on posters around campus.
College Democrats, Queers and Allies, Students Against Imperialism, Hack@Davidson and Planned Parenthood Generation Action each sent individual open letters to the Matthews Center and Executive Director Mike Summers as of Friday afternoon.
The letter from Queers and Allies asked the Matthews Center to “reconsider” the event.
“It should be a matter of shame and reflection that we have alumni working for companies like this, that four years at Davidson were insufficient to induct them into ethical citizenship. We should not be inviting them uncritically to come and have coffee with students, recruiting them without giving them an accurate picture of what the company does,” the email said.
Hack@Davidson wrote that their concerns stem from how Palantir’s services are used by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the IDF. ICE awarded Palantir a $30 million contract to develop ImmigrationOS, a tool designed to aid ICE in surveilling and deporting immigrants. Palantir also provides the IDF with AI systems to “help Israel’s war efforts.”
Julia Siqueira ‘26 is the president of the College Democrats. She wrote that hosting Palantir contradicts Davidson’s values.
“Working for Palantir is a direct betrayal of every single value that Davidson students cultivate over their time here,” Siqueira wrote on behalf of the College Democrats. “My humane instincts prompt me to ask you to recognize the system of oppression you are helping uphold and decide to do something different.”
Planned Parenthood Generation Action’s letter expressed a similar sentiment.
“How can we claim that Davidson is a safe space that values perspectives from around the world if we are simultaneously engaging with a company that causes so much harm across the globe?”
At the time of publication, the Matthews Center had not responded to a request for comment.
In addition to the five organizations who sent open letters Friday, several more are considering following suit, according to one student with knowledge of the situation.
The letters ended by expressing gratitude for the Matthews Center and urging Summers to cancel the event.
“The Matthews Center is an incredible resource for us as students, thanks to the kind and caring staff who connect us to opportunities,” Siqueira wrote. “Please show the same care toward all the lives Palantir has destroyed, cancel the event, and carefully consider which companies you introduce our students to in the future. I encourage other concerned students to take the time to reach out to the Matthews Center and respectfully express their concerns.”
Students Against Imperialism’s open letter put it concisely.
“Our request is simple: we hope you consider what we have said and cancel the events. Palantir should not be welcome here.”