UCA, as a public entity, is forbidden by Arkansas Act 710 to engage in business with any company or entity currently engaged in a boycott of Israel and is required to make contractors sign a form stating they “are not currently engaged in a boycott of Israel.”

The law covers all state contracts worth $1,000 or more.

Fredricka Sharkey, UCA’s director of media relations, said in an email Dec. 1, “UCA complies with the Arkansas law stipulating that paid vendors sign the attached pledge form. Paid vendors can be for lawn services, construction, speakers, etc.”

UCA’s Combined Certifications form, which also covers other state restrictions for more expensive contracts, is based on the state government’s form for contractors, Sharkey said.

Jesse Washington, author and sports journalist working for ESPN and Andscape, spoke at UCA on Oct. 5 as part of the Reynolds Performance Hall’s Distinguished Speakers series. Washington said in an email Dec. 1 that he “was not asked to sign anything” before his lecture. 

According to the contract and routing approval form for Washington’s appearance, UCA agreed Sept. 8 to pay $8,500 for Washington to give a lecture and Q&A, a 30-minute interview with students, a meet-and-greet with photo opportunities for VIPs, a promotional call or interview with a talk show in central Arkansas and lunch or dinner with the university president.

UCA’s online expenditure reports show maintenance and operations paid $8,500 to Jesse Washington on Sept. 25, 10 days before his talk on campus.

Sharkey said, “We have been unable to locate the Combined Certifications form that is required, so we believe this step was inadvertently missed.”

Act 710 doesn’t specify how public entities would be legally penalized or punished for not following the law, only that they are prohibited from engaging in business with any entity currently engaged in a boycott of Israel.

The law is one of many similar state laws across the country commonly known as anti-BDS laws. Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions is a Palestinian organization founded in 2005 that “works to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law,” according to bdsmovement.net, and maintains a list of companies to boycott that work with the Israeli government or in Israel.

The trend started in 2015 in Tennessee, the first state to pass an anti-BDS law, Tenn. Code § 12-4-119.

As of November, 37 states have passed anti-BDS laws that in some way limit public entities’ ability to contract with a company engaged in a boycott of Israel.

Arkansas’ law has gained recent national attention after the New York Times published an article Nov. 20 about author Nathan Thrall canceling his appearance at the University of Arkansas after it required him to sign the pledge to receive a speaker’s fee.

Sharkey said, “No paid speaker in recent memory has declined to appear at UCA due to the state pledge form.”

In 2018, the Arkansas ACLU filed a lawsuit, Arkansas Times LP v. Waldrip, arguing the law violated the First and Fourteenth amendments after the Arkansas Times refused to sign the pledge to renew their advertising contract with the University of Arkansas Pulaski Technical College.

After a process of court dismissals and appeals, the Eighth Circuit Court eventually dismissed the case and upheld Act 710.

The United States Supreme Court declined to hear the Arkansas Times’ case in February 2023.