Brown University announced Thursday that it will not divest from companies that pro-Palestinian students say are contributing to Israel's war effort in Gaza.
Brown University Corporation decided Tuesday to oppose the measure after agreeing this spring to listen to and vote on student proposals for a corporate sale in exchange for breaking up the activist camp.
The board voted to support the Brown University Advisory Committee on Resource Management's (ACURM) recommendation against the sale.
“In particular, members of the Corporation believe that Brown's exposure to the 10 companies identified in the proposed sale is minimal, that Brown has no direct investment in any of the companies targeted for sale, and that these We noted ACURM's finding that all of Brown's indirect exposures to the company were so small that they could not be directly responsible for the social harm as defined in ACURM's complaint. “We cannot do so,” University President Brian Moynihan and Chancellor Christina Paxson said in a letter to the campus.
“These findings alone are sufficient reason to support ACURM's recommendations,” they added.
The corporation also debated whether voting for divestment would send a political message to the university that squanders free thought.
“We reaffirm that Brown's mission is to discover, communicate, and preserve knowledge; it is not to adjudicate or resolve global conflicts,” the letter said. There is.
Although the school was one of the few to successfully negotiate with student activists, the move was a major disappointment for the Brown Divest Coalition.
In an Instagram post, the Brown Divest Coalition posted a photo of a letter from school officials that read “F— YOU CPAX. F— YOU BROWN CORP. FREE PALESTINE” in red letters.
“The Cowardly Committee of Brown's Corporation has secretly resolved to reject the takeover. All settler colonial facilities will be destroyed,” the caption reads.
