The Rhode Island School of Design’s Board of Trustees will “share their thoughts” on a divestment proposal put forth by RISD Students for Justice in Palestine by March, according to Jaime Marland, a RISD spokesperson.
Marland declined to comment on whether this will constitute a final decision on the divestment proposal.
RSJP Spokesperson Jo Ouyang ’26, a Brown-RISD dual degree student, shared the update at a Thursday afternoon rally, after five RSJP representatives met with select members of RISD’s Board of Trustees Investment Committee earlier that day to discuss the board’s investment strategy.
In May, RISD President Crystal Williams agreed to convene a meeting between the members of the Board of Trustees Investment Committee and a select number of student activists, under the condition that RSJP would not disrupt Commencement activities.
According to Ouyang, the committee talked about “having a consensus or vote” on the divestment proposal at the meeting and discussed possible ways to make the outcome of those discussions public.
Back in May, several RSJP members occupied 20 Washington Place, known as Prov-Wash, for three days, The Herald previously reported. Demonstrators disbanded the sit-in voluntarily when it was clear that their demands would not be met, a spokesperson said.
During the Thursday protest, demonstrators shared multiple demands, including disclosure of RISD’s investments, student oversight of future investments and condemnation of Israeli actions in Gaza by Williams.
At the meeting, the student activists focused primarily on divestment, according to their meeting outline.
RSJP has scrutinized RISD’s financial ties with defense manufacturer Textron in the past. The Israeli Air Force currently includes aircraft made by Bell and Beechcraft, Textron subsidiaries. The group has also criticized Airbnb for allowing listings of rental properties in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Marland previously told The Herald that Textron and Airbnb are not in RISD’s investment portfolio. In a May statement, President Williams rejected protesters’ demands to sever all financial ties with Textron.
In the proposal’s final notes, RSJP wrote that they “want to work with the (Board of Trustees) to come to common ground in terms of how to ethically use (RISD’s) funding.”
RSJP also proposed a student body referendum to prove the prevalence of support for divestment on campus and strengthen “the connection between RISD students and the administration.”
According to Marland, the committee will bring the students’ divestment proposal to the Board’s Stewardship & Sustainability Committee “and move forward with a recommendation to the full Board, who will then consider the proposal.”
RISD has divested from companies in the past. In 2015, the school’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted to divest from fossil-fuel extraction companies, following a student sit-in.
“I think this trustee meeting is really a crucial step for us to remain in communication with the Board of Trustees, and we hope to have future meetings,” Ouyang said. “But this will also not stall our tactics and strategies of protesting on this campus and calling for divestment now.”
Sanai Rashid was raised in Brooklyn and now lives in Long Island, New York. As an English and History concentrator, she is always looking for a way to amplify stories and histories previously unheard. When she is not writing, you can find her trying new pizza places in Providence or buying another whale stuffed animal.
Megan is a Senior Staff Writer covering community and activism in Providence. Born and raised in Hong Kong, she spends her free time drinking coffee and wishing she was Meg Ryan in a Nora Ephron movie.
