The Corporation, Brown鈥檚 highest governing body, will vote on divestment from companies affiliated with Israel at its October meeting following an agreement between encampment organizers and University administrators this afternoon. Organizers announced the agreement at a rally.
Organizers have agreed to clear the Main Green encampment by 5 p.m. today and not hold any unauthorized protests through Commencement, which ends May 26. Students in the encampment, which began last Wednesday, have been calling on the University to divest from companies with ties to the Israeli government and drop the charges against the 41 students arrested in a Dec. 11 University Hall sit-in. Charges against the 41 arrested students will not be dropped at this time.
Spokespeople from the University did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a Monday letter, President Christina Paxson P鈥�19 P鈥橫D鈥�20 offered to allow student leaders to meet with a small group of Corporation members this May. This initial agreement did not promise to put a discussion or vote on divestment on the Corporation鈥檚 agenda. Protestors negotiated the new agreement in meetings held Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning.
According to a copy of the agreement reviewed by The Herald, five students will still meet with at least five Corporation members, including Chancellor Samuel Mencoff 鈥�78 P鈥�11 P鈥�15 and Vice President and Chief Investment Office Jane Dietze, this May.
Students will still face disciplinary proceedings for their involvement in the encampment, the agreement states.
The students will present a divestment proposal based on a 2020 from the Advisory Committee on Corporation Responsibility in Investment Practices which recommended divestment from 鈥渃ompanies that facilitate the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;
ACCRIP, an advisory body that was disassembled in 2020, was tasked with considering the business and investment standards of the University before its replacement by the Advisory Committee on University Resource Management, another body charged to make recommendations on investment practices.
Released during this February鈥檚 hunger strike in support of divestment, the 鈥溾�� of the ACCRIP report includes and expanded arguments in favor of divestment from 鈥渃ompanies identified as facilitating human rights violations in Palestine.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;
Paxson previously to bring the 2020 ACCRIP report鈥檚 recommendations to the Corporation in a March 2021 letter, writing that 鈥渢he recommendation did not adequately address the requirements for rigorous analysis and research as laid out in ACCRIP鈥檚 charge, nor was there the requisite level of specificity in regard to divestment.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;
In a previous interview with The Herald, Paxson said that she would ask ACURM to 鈥渇ast track鈥� divestment consideration, should a proposal be submitted. But protesters have not submitted a divestment proposal, arguing that the process could 鈥渢ake months 鈥� an untenable timeline given the urgency of the crisis in Gaza.鈥�
The new agreement stipulates that student organizers must submit their revised 鈥淐ritical Edition鈥� of the 2020 ACCRIP report to ACURM no later than September 30, for review by Paxson. A vote on the divestment proposal will occur at the October 2024 Corporation meeting regardless of the outcome of the ACURM review process.
The Tuesday decision marks the culmination of a months-long series of demonstrations calling for divestment from companies affiliated with Israel, including a hunger strike and two University Hall that resulted in the arrest of 61 students for trespassing.
The agreement also follows a Thursday special meeting of the Brown University Community Council, an advisory body made up of current undergraduate and graduate students, alumni, faculty, staff, trustees and administrators who make recommendations on University policy.
At this meeting, thirty-one members of BUCC voted to approve two motions in line with protesters鈥� demands: allowing students to present a divestment proposal to the Corporation and dropping the charges for the 41 students. Both motions passed with 17 鈥測es鈥� votes, but the second garnered fewer 鈥渘o鈥� votes and more abstentions.
Prior to the vote, BUCC members met with representatives from the Graduate Labor Organization and the Palestine Solidarity Caucus, an advocacy group of graduate student workers.
GLO 鈥渕obilized the community council in the weeks leading up to this vote to take the two motions to the table,鈥� GLO President Sherena Razek GS previously wrote in a message to The Herald. GLO and PSC have organized a myriad of demonstrations this academic year for its stated demands of divestment.
All recommendations by BUCC are non-binding and made in an advisory capacity.
Notably, the agreement between Paxson and demonstrators does not include dropping the charges for 41 students affiliated with Brown Divest Coalition 鈥� one of encampment organizers鈥� key demands.
In a letter to the students participating in the encampment, Paxson wrote that she declined the BUCC鈥檚 recommendation to drop the charges, The Herald previously reported. She cited the University's decision not to drop charges against over 250 students who organized a at University Hall in support of need-blind admissions in 1992.
鈥淚 respect the conviction and passion that prompted the students to make the informed choice to be arrested last December,鈥� the letter read. But 鈥渢he practice of civil disobedience means accepting the consequences of decisions on matters of conscience.鈥�
Three Providence City Council members previously urged the City Solicitor's office to drop the charges against the arrested students, according to a letter published on the Council鈥檚 Instagram Monday afternoon. The letter notes that the City Solicitor also has the legal authority to decide whether to drop charges.
Paxson also wrote in her Monday letter that 鈥渆nding the encampment will make it possible to begin the very involved process of preparing the campus for the tens of thousands of community members who are preparing to travel to participate in the singular milestone of Commencement and Reunion Weekend.鈥�
鈥淧reparations already have been delayed due to the encampment,鈥� she wrote.
In a recent Q&A by the University, Vice President and Chief Investment Office Jane Dietze said that 鈥済iven today鈥檚 realities, it鈥檚 not possible to divest the way Brown did in South Africa or Sudan.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;
Dietze referred to increased reliance on external managers, which oversee 96% of Brown鈥檚 endowment, as barriers to divestment. Of the 4% of the endowment the University directly invests, none are affiliated with 鈥渁ny of the companies discussed in the current divestment debates,鈥� she said.
While the official dates are not released, the October Corporation meetings historically occur on the third weekend of October.
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
Owen Dahlkamp is a Section Editor overseeing coverage for University 国产偷拍 and Science & Research. Hailing from San Diego, CA, he is concentrating in political science and cognitive neuroscience with an interest in data analytics. In his free time, you can find him making spreadsheets at Dave鈥檚 Coffee.
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