The student organization UCI Resist US-Led War (UCIRULW), in collaboration with UCI Students for Justice Palestine (SJP) and UCI Anakbayan, held an anti-war rally on Oct. 16. The rally was in protest of the UCI STEM Career Fair’s invitation of weapons manufacturers — RTX, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin — and the United States military.
According to a flyer distributed at the rally, the event aimed to “end all W-TNC corporate partnerships with the Henry Samueli School of Engineering… [and] to remove representatives of W-TNCs from leadership councils of the engineering and ICS departments.”
UCIRULW is a student organization that is a branch of the national organization of the same name. Their public statements from their official website state their goals are to “RESIST US-LED WAR militarism, including the withdrawal of US military troops, occupation, bases, war games and exercises” around the world and to “Resist US-NATO, AFRICOM and CIA counterinsurgency operations, proxy wars and other forms of covert intervention,” along with “[fighting] Zionism, apartheid and systemic racism.”
Another goal of the organization is to encourage the divestment from the U.S. military-industrial complex.
In the past, UCIRULW released public statements on the most recently announced ceasefire in Gaza, Venezuelan sovereignty, the Global Sumud Flotilla and the NATO 2025 Summit. Members were unable to be reached for personal interviews.
The two other student organizations that hosted the rally, Anakbayan UCI — a student organization for national democracy in the Philippines — and UCI SJP — a student organization pursuing Palestinian liberation, are both currently on probation with UCI.
The rally on Oct. 16 consisted of 15-20 people holding signs and flags near the Flagpoles chanting to passerbys. Some chants included, “Say it loud, say it clear! RTX is not welcome here!”
Some signs read, “From Palestine to the Philippines, stop the U.S. War Machine,” “UCI Cut Ties with War Profiteers,” and “People over Profit.”
RTX, which is separated into three segments — Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney and Raytheon — is a defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Va. that has been involved in multiple controversies. The Raytheon company was forced to pay the U.S. Department of Justice $950 million in settlements because of ties to defective pricing, foreign bribery and export control schemes in Oct. 2024. This was on top of the nearly $200 million settlement in August of the same year after they were tied to export violations.
In 2024, RTX was credited as the first place sponsor at the 10th Annual Grand Slam competition that occurred at the UCI Newkirk Alumni Center.
Boeing is the fourth largest Department of Defense contractor, produces intelligence and military satellites, and has a similar history of controversy. In the past, the company overcharged the U.S. military for spare parts and pleaded guilty to felony fraud of federal regulations after the crashes of two 737 Max airlines, which killed 346 people.
Boeing awarded UCI Merage students scholarships in 2017 and has donated to the university for over 20 years.
Lockheed Martin, America’s largest defense contractor, has had scandals dating back to the 1970s. Lockheed was involved in a bribery scandal in 1977, and again in the 1990s.
The Longbow Hellfire missiles produced by Martin “have been extensively utilized by the Israeli Air Force in attacks on Gaza, resulting in civilian casualties that have drawn international condemnation,” according to a piece by Türkiye Today.
UCI STEM Career Fairs organizers were unavailable to comment on the rally according to an email sent by Director of Strategic Services at the Division of Career Pathways Leigh Poirier.
Shanaaz Faisal is a Features Intern for the fall 2025 quarter. She can be reached at shanaazf@uci.edu.
Edited by Avery Rosas and Annabelle Aguirre
