The Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards has notified approximately 130 students of potential conduct violations for encampment-related activities as of Thursday, University Spokesperson Brian Clark wrote in an email to The Herald. Some of the students who received the OSCCS email claim not to be participating in the encampment.
Earlier today, organizers told The Herald that 105 students are currently participating in the encampment.
“The University continues to ask individuals in or in immediate proximity to the encampment to present their Brown IDs for two reasons: to verify association with Brown for safety and security reasons, and to appropriately address potential violations of policy,” Clark wrote.
He added that “encampment on Brown University’s historic and residential greens is a violation of University policy, and participants in the encampment have been verbally informed of this fact and that they will face conduct proceedings.”
Officers from Brown’s Department of Public Safety have recorded ID information five times since Wednesday morning when the encampment began, including at around 10:30 a.m. and 3:50 p.m. today. Provost Francis Doyle wrote in a Tuesday email that failure to show ID was against University policy.
The approximately 130 students who have been notified had their ID information recorded on Wednesday. Several other students’ ID information was collected on Thursday, but they are yet to be notified of the status of their cases.
“The letter is the start of a conduct process — not a finding of responsibility,” Clark added. “All students have the ability to respond, per standard student conduct procedures.”
Read more about The Herald's live coverage on the encampment here.
Editor’s note: Below is a summary of previous coverage by The Herald detailing context regarding the encampment and related demonstrations
The demonstrators are calling on the University to “divest from companies enabling and profiting from Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territory” and “to protect free speech on campus,” according to a press release obtained by The Herald. This includes dropping the charges of the 41 students arrested in the Dec. 11 sit-in, it added.
The encampment follows a series of similar demonstrations at other universities, most notably at Columbia which began a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on April 17. New York Police Department Officers arrested over 100 students at Columbia last Thursday and 120 at New York University on Monday. On Wednesday, police arrested at least 50 people at the University of Texas at Austin and more than 90 protesters at the University of Southern California.
The protesters demand that the University adhere to a 2020 report compiled by the Advisory Committee on Corporation Responsibility in Investment Practices that recommends “divestment from companies that facilitate the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.”
In a recent Q&A published by the University, Vice President and Chief Investment Office Jane Dietze said that “given today’s realities, it’s not possible to divest the way Brown did in South Africa or Sudan.”
Dietze referred to increased reliance on external managers, which oversee 96% of Brown’s endowment, as barriers to divestment. Of the 4% of the endowment the University directly invests, none are affiliated for “any of the companies discussed in the current divestment debates,” she said.
Brown’s encampment marks a continued call for divestment from companies affiliated with Israel this academic year. On Nov. 8, police arrested 20 students affiliated with Brown Jews for Ceasefire Now following a University Hall sit-in; another 41 students with Brown Divest Coalition were arrested during a Dec. 11 sit-in and placed on University probation. The 41 students from the December sit-in continue to face criminal proceedings.
In February, a group of protesters partook in an eight-day hunger strike demanding that the Corporation “hears and considers a divestment resolution.” Paxson refused to meet their demands, instead encouraging them to submit a divestment proposal to the Advisory Committee on University Resource Management — ACCRIP’s successor.
In response, the strikers argued that the ACURM proposal consideration process would take too long, saying that it could “take months — an untenable timeline given the urgency of the crisis in Gaza.”
In an interview with The Herald, Paxson said that she would “ask ACURM to fast track” divestment consideration, should a proposal be submitted.
Owen Dahlkamp is a Section Editor overseeing coverage for University News and Science & Research. Hailing from San Diego, CA, he is concentrating in political science and cognitive neuroscience with an interest in data analytics. In his free time, you can find him making spreadsheets at Dave’s Coffee.
Ryan Doherty is a section editor covering faculty, higher education and science & research. He is a junior concentrating in chemistry and economics who likes to partially complete crosswords in his free time.
Avani Ghosh is a Metro Editor covering politics & justice and community & activism. She is a junior from Ohio studying Health & Human Biology and International & Public Affairs. She is an avid earl grey enthusiast and can be found making tea in her free time.
