BOSTON (AP) — Brown University has rejected sale offers from 10 companies that protesters say are facilitating Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.
Tuesday’s vote by Brown followed a committee report recommending that the university not sell the university, citing its small investment and that the investment would not result in social harm. The report states that the school has no direct investments in companies such as Airbus, Boeing, General Dynamics and General Electric, and that about 1% of its endowment is invested indirectly in these companies. I’m guessing.
In a joint statement, University President Brian Moynihan and Chancellor Christina Paxson said, “If the corporation were to be divested, students and academics would like to reassure us that there is an ‘approved’ point of view that community members are expected to follow. I will tell them,” he said. . “This is completely inconsistent with the principles of academic freedom and free inquiry and undermines our mission to serve our community, nation, and world.”
The university promised last spring that its board would vote on the proposed sale in October after an advisory committee considered the issue. In return, student demonstrators agreed to clear their encampments on campus.
Ahead of the vote, student body president Nyanta Nepal, who was elected on a pro-divestment platform, had spent her energy pressuring the school to vote in favor of divestment. They rallied fellow students to participate in a series of forums and encouraged new students to join the movement.
The defeat left students led by the Brown Divest Coalition planning their next move.
“This is a moral stain on Brown University, a clear affront to the university's democratic values, and a terrible example of the insurmountable violence enacted by the Israeli regime in Gaza and now Lebanon,” the group said in a statement. It is eradication.” “This decision makes one thing clear: Our university has invested at least $66 million in companies that promote Israel’s genocide, apartheid, and military occupation, and we remain committed to having no ties to these funds. I refuse to cut it off.”
But Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and executive director of the Anti-Defamation League, welcomed the decision. He said the push to divest from the 10 companies is part of a larger campaign known as Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) targeting U.S. companies doing business with Israel.
“Brown University Corporation made the right decision by refusing to bow to the BDS bullies,” he said on X. “Studies show that BDS ends up draining billions of dollars from university endowments and polluting culture, as it disadvantages Jewish students who are already under siege on campus.” “There is,” he said.
The university has long rejected calls to divest from Israel, with opponents claiming it has anti-Semitic leanings. Mr. Brown already faces tough odds just to consider the vote, including a scathing letter from 24 state attorneys general, all Republicans.
