The University is investigating potential student conduct violations for demonstrators who attended a Friday protest of the Corporation’s recent vote against divestment from companies with ties to the Israeli military.
The pro-divestment activist group Students for Justice in Palestine “held the registered and planned series of events” for Friday’s protest, according to University Spokesperson Brian Clark. The University is investigating both student groups and individual protesters, which are subject to two different disciplinary processes.
In a community-wide email sent out Sunday morning, Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey wrote that some of the students’ behavior at the protest was “deeply concerning” and “entirely unacceptable.”
Carey cited reports of protesters “banging on a vehicle,” “screaming profanities at individuals” and at one point using a “racial epithet directed toward a person of color.”
Demonstrators at the protest jeered at Corporation members as they exited the Warren Alpert Medical School, The Herald previously reported. Some demonstrators followed members as they walked away from the building. At one point, demonstrators temporarily blocked a Brown University Shuttle bus carrying Corporation members from crossing an intersection.
Carey wrote in the email that some of these actions may violate the University’s Code of Student Conduct, and will be “reviewed through University disciplinary processes.”
“As a campus community, we should be resolute that these behaviors are not acceptable, are not reflective of the Brown student body or our community as a whole and are not commensurate with what we expect of ourselves and others,” Carey wrote.
While Carey did not cite any specific policy violations, the Code of Student Conduct outlines prohibited behavior including discrimination, harassment, emotional or psychological harm and “actions that are unreasonably disruptive to the University community.”
In a statement to The Herald, the Brown Divest Coalition — an umbrella organization for pro-divestment groups that includes Students for Justice in Palestine — described Carey’s email as “an attempt to attack and defame student protesters holding the Corporation accountable to their decision to continue to invest in companies enabling genocide and apartheid” and said that Corporation members who voted against divestment should be “deeply ashamed.”
Kate Butts is a senior staff writer covering University Hall. Outside of The Herald, she loves running, board games and Trader Joe's snacks.
Sophia Wotman is a senior staff writer covering activism. She is a junior from Long Island, New York concentrating in Political Science with a focus on women’s rights. She is a jazz trumpet player, and often performs on campus and around Providence.
