Leaders of the Ivy League schools were praised for voting to end the encampment earlier this year, agreeing with student protestors.
The governing body of Brown University decided by ballots to reject a petition from students seeking the university divest from companies that “the Israeli occupation of Palestinian Territory.” The university board has rebuffed a proposal to divest from 10 companies that student protests claim were facilitating the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.
The move rounds off months of anticipation, following the Ivy League school’s administrators distinguished their handling of students’ demonstrators in the spring by agreeing to put the matter to a vote.
In a statement explaining the decision, the Board of Brown University quoted a report from the independent Advisory Committee on University Resources Management, which concluded that Brown University “has no direct investments in any of the companies targeted for divestment.”
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The votes by the Board of Brown University came after a committee report suggested against divesting partly because the institution has little investment in them. The report disclosed that the educational institution doesn’t have direct investment in companies such as General Dynamics Corp, General Electric Co., Airbus, and Boeing. It also claimed that about 1% of its endowment was invested indirectly in the company.
University Chancellor Brian Moynihan and President Christina Paxson jointly stated: “If the Corporation were to divest, it would signal to our students and scholars that there are ‘approved’ points of view to which members of the community are expected to conform.” “This would be wholly inconsistent with the principles of academic freedom and free inquiry, and would undermine our mission of serving the community, the nation and the world.”
The advisory committee also disclosed that “any indirect exposure for Brown in these companies is so small that it could not be directly responsible for social harm.”
According to the advisory, Brown took steps to divest from companies operating in Apartheid South Africa in the past, with tobacco manufacturers and business organisations facilitating genocide in Darfur.
The report stated, “It is indisputable that grave harm is occurring in the Palestinian territories and Israel as a result of this conflict.” “However, by a vote of 8-to-2, with one member in abstention, the Committee finds that the investment of Brown University resources in the ten companies does not directly contribute to this harm, and the Committee therefore does not recommend divestment.”
