Finn Kirkpatrick
Welcome back to the Bruno Brief. I’m Finn Kirkpatrick, podcast and arts & culture Editor. On this week’s episode, we spoke with Tom Li, podcast producer and senior staff writer, and Ciara Meyer, staff writer, about their reporting on recent arrests and student activism at the Rhode Island School of Design surrounding the school’s relationship with Textron, a company involved in defense manufacturing. Textron works with the U.S. Department of Defense and the Israeli Air Force currently holds aircraft manufactured by its subsidiaries.
On Nov. 2, two Rhode Island School of Design students were arraigned for misdemeanor charges of alleged vandalism at the Textron headquarters on Westminster Street in downtown Providence. The students allegedly spray-painted the words “Kills Kids” on the office’s main entrance.
Last week, approximately 100 RISD students and Providence community members marched from the intersection of Waterman and Benefit streets to Textron headquarters as part of a national walkout for Palestine.
Finn Kirkpatrick
So what is Textron, and why are people protesting it?
Ciara Meyer
Okay, so Textron is a multi-industry company that is involved in part in defense manufacturing. 22% of their revenue comes from the U.S. government. So a lot of their manufacturing work is done for the Department of Defense. Textron’s weapons are in the arsenal being used by the IDF.
Finn Kirkpatrick
And what is Textron’s relationship with RISD?
Tom Li
Textron founder Royal Little, who was a textile manufacturer, founded a company called Atlantic Rayon, and that company would later be renamed Textron, but originally in 1944, Little donated a gift of around $100 to the school in order to support for the research and study into textiles, but he also created an endowed fund called the Rayon Foundation Trust. The cumulative donation currently amounts to close to $28 million, according to RISD’s website. A press person for RISD noted that RISD receives funding from Textron for a variety of grants and scholarship opportunities. Specifically, she stated that Textron gives $10,000 in grants per year to assist students with expenses related to unpaid internships.
Finn Kirkpatrick
And what has student activism looked like surrounding this issue?
Ciara Meyer
From the RISD student body, there have been walkouts and then protests with local community organizations at Textron's headquarters. RISD Students for Justice in Palestine has been involved in those protests.
Finn Kirkpatrick
And what was the case of alleged vandalism, and what has the legal and disciplinary action been?
Tom Li
The alleged vandalism occurred on Nov. 1 in the morning on the Textron world headquarters main office entrance, the words “kills kids” were written underneath that. Two students from the Rhode Island School of Design, both aged 19, were arrested later that day by the Providence Police Department and then held overnight for their arraignment which was the next day. On November 2., at the arraignment, the students both pled not guilty and they were held on $1,000 of personal recognizance each. And currently, according to the open records of the Rhode Island court system, they have separate hearings scheduled for late November and then mid-December as well. RISD declined to comment on specific disciplinary actions that were going to be taken in response to the two students that are involved in the alleged vandalism, but they did provide a statement saying that RISD is “deeply committed to providing a safe and supportive campus environment for their students and don't tolerate unlawful behavior either off or on campus.”
Finn Kirkpatrick
How has Textron responded to these demonstrations?
Ciara Meyer
Textron declined to comment on specifically those students’ actions. They thanked the Providence Police Department for their response to the graffiti. In terms of the protests last week in front of Textron’s headquarters, Textron did respond to a request for comment, and they said that Textron “respects the right of people to engage in peaceful and lawful protest. We take pride in supporting the U.S. military and our U.S. allies with our technologies and products following all laws and regulations related to foreign military sales as a multi-industry company with locations in 25 countries. We are also proud of the role we play in our communities, particularly our headquarters community of Providence.”
Finn Kirkpatrick
Ciara and Tom, thanks so much for coming in.
Ciara Meyer
Thanks so much for having us on.
Tom Li
Thank you so much for having us on.
Finn Kirkpatrick
Now here is a recap of other important stories happening this week.
In an open letter, over 1,400 University alumni, called for Brown, among other demands, to support a ceasefire in Gaza, grant amnesty to student protestors and divest from “Israel and the military-industrial complex.” The group, who announced the letter on the Instagram account @brownalumni4palestine, said the arrests of student protestors raised “serious concerns.”
In other news, after a devastating 6.4 magnitude earthquake in Nepal, Ramu Kharel, an assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School, has started a GoFundMe page that aims to raise at least $50,000 for disaster relief work.
Lastly, the Office of Residential Life recently launched a three-part educational program called Brunionians Living Off Campus, in partnership with the Undergraduate Council of Students. The program aims to help students navigate living outside of University dorms.
Thanks again for tuning into the tenth episode of this season of the Bruno Brief. This episode was produced by Me, Finn Kirkpatrick and Jacob Smollen, edited by Finn Kirkpatrick, Megan Wang and Annabelle Kim, and scripted by Jacob Smollen. If you like what you hear, subscribe to The Bruno Brief wherever you get your podcasts and leave a review. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week.
Music Credits:
Denzel Sprak: https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/203142
