41 students with Brown Divest Coalition arrested inside Union Hall

"We, the Brown Divest Coalition, call on Brown University to do its part to promote an immediate ceasefire and protect its Palestinian students..."

The first student released after being arrested inside Union Hall holds her court summons aloft.

Brown University arrested 41 of their own students on Monday evening, students who refused to leave University Hall over the Brown Corporation's refusal to divest from companies that profit from Israel's war in Palestine.

On November 7, 20 students with the group BrownU Jews for Ceasefire Now were arrested and charged in a similar protest, only to see those charges dropped in the wake of the shooting of a Palestinian Brown University student, Hisham Awartani, in Vermont during Thanksgiving break.

This time the number of students arrested more than doubled, and the students are from another group, the Brown Divest Coalition. [For more on Brown and Divestment, see: Build This World from Love: Five weeks and four decades of anti-apartheid student organizing]

In a statement, the Brown Divest Coalition wrote,

“We are the Brown Divest Coalition, a multicultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious coalition of students from diverse backgrounds and traditions, which demands that Brown promote a permanent ceasefire by divesting from companies that facilitate the genocide in Gaza.

“The #BrownDivest campaign was launched in 2019 and led to the release of the Brown University Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Practices (ACCRIP) 2020 report ‘to recommend divestment from companies that facilitate the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territory.’ President Christina Paxson then vetoed the ACCRIP divestment vote and refused to bring the report to the Corporation for consideration.

“President Paxson stated that ‘Brown's endowment is not a political instrument,’ but investing in military occupation is not a politically neutral stance. When the University uses our endowment to fund violence, it sends a clear message that it does not care for the lives of Palestinians and its Palestinian students.

On Saturday, Nov. 25th, Hisham, a Brown University student, was walking with his friends Kinnan and Tahseen to Hisham's grandmother's house for dinner in Burlington, Vermont, when all three were shot in an unprovoked attack. This hate crime represents an actualization of the safety concerns that Hisham voiced to President Paxson just five weeks before. Hisham articulated the extent of the violence when he told her, “If Palestinians had to hold vigils every time our people were massacred. we would be bankrupt from buying candles. There is no respite for us.”

“Hisham's concerns were not raised in isolation, but in concert with ongoing demands for ceasefire, divestment, and protection of Palestinian and Arab students. President Paxson met these demands with silence, continuing to fuel anti-Palestinian rhetoric and violence.

“As of today, December 11th, 2023, at least 17,000 Palestinians have been killed, with death rates escalating in the wake of the temporary ceasefire. Over 1.8 million Palestinians have been displaced.

“We will not leave University Hall until President Christina Paxson publicly commits to forward and endorse the 2020 ACCRIP report in the next Brown Corporation meeting. We will continue to stand with Hisham, Kinnan, Tahseen, and Palestinian community members as their suffering is inextricably linked to the ongoing genocide in Palestine. We, the Brown Divest Coalition, call on Brown University to do its part to promote an immediate ceasefire and protect its Palestinian students by divesting its endowment from Israeli military occupation.”

Students entered the building at approximately 9:05 am, said school officials. Students asserted that they were staging a sit-in.

“At around 9:15 am, President Christina H. Paxson spoke with the students, who provided a document demanding that Brown divest ‘its endowment from Israeli military occupation.’ President Paxson engaged in a conversation with the students to understand their intentions and explained the history of previous similar student demands for divestment (recounting a 2020 recommendation from an advisory committee that did not meet established criteria for being brought to the Corporation of Brown University for consideration),” wrote Brian Clark, Associate Vice President for News and Editorial Development. “She also explained the building’s fire code; shared the conditions for remaining in the building during business hours; and informed the students that administrators would be in direct contact with the students later in the day to explain University policy.”

At around 5pm the crowd of student supporters outside University Hall had swelled to nearly 400. Brown University officials used a different tactic when arresting the students this time around. Instead of parading the students out of the building in handcuffs and past students and the press, the students were quietly arrested inside Union Hall by Brown University Campus Police [with help from the Providence Police Department.]

“Students were informed shortly after 6 pm that they were being arrested. To expedite the process and avoid processing arrests in two locations, Brown DPS arranged with the Providence Police Department to conduct all arrest processing on-site in University Hall, with Brown DPS making arrests and Providence Police assisting with processing. Students were photographed, fingerprinted, and provided their arrest paperwork in lieu of being detained in physical custody,” wrote Brian Clark.

“I'm being told they're handcuffing them in there and then they plan to take the handcuffs off before they release them from University Hall, which they're treating like a jail,” said an organizer to the crowd over a megaphone when the University's plan was leaked. “They're being arrested and cuffed inside to keep images away from the media. It's very clear what's happening. Brown's trying to protect its image...

“And let's not forget the history, the hideous foundation of University Hall. This place was built by enslaved labor and now they are turning University Hall, a building built by enslaved African people into a jail. Brown is a carceral state.”

Cries of “Shame!” and “Fuck Brown!” from the crowd.

“There are Black students inside," continued the organizer. "There are Arab students inside. These are people of color. There are white comrades inside... University Jail. Don't forget that this endowment that we are telling Brown to divest from the Israeli occupation was founded on the backs of enslaved people. This is a shameful history that did not start with investments in arms manufacturers and the Palestinian genocide.

“We will not let Brown try and obfuscate and hide what is going on. We know what's going on. They care more about their image. These administrators care more about their donors than they care about their responsibility to the world and their responsibility to their own students. So we will keep singing and we'll welcome our friends here with open arms. Does someone want to sing a song?”

When it came time to start releasing the students, Brown University released them on the opposite side from where the crowd was gathered. Students walked to the other side to greet them. But then Brown flip-flopped, releasing students out of opposite sides of University Hall. In response, the protest split into two groups of about 200 each, covering all exits.

All 41 students were charged with “willful trespass within school buildings” (R.I. Gen. Laws 11-44-26.1). In a statement, Brian Clark wrote that "[g]iven that this is the second prominent incident in recent weeks of students trespassing in a secure, non-residential building after operating hours, the University fully expects to recommend more significant criminal misdemeanor charges for any future incidents after the Dec. 11 sit-in."

More problematic for the students that minor charges of trespass are Brown's own internal disciplinary policies, which may result in expulsion.

"Brown has detailed procedures in place to investigate alleged conduct code violations, resolve them, and implement discipline in instances when students are found responsible, and any additional disciplinary measures will be based on the outcome of those processes," wrote Brian Clark. "While the student conduct process involves an individualized assessment of each case, it also considers the cumulative impact of repeated disruptions to the University community and operations.”