On Friday afternoon, approximately 50 students and faculty gathered on the Main Green to demand that the University hold a faculty vote on fossil fuel dissociation.
Although the Advisory Committee on University Resources Management, better known as ACURM, proposed a faculty vote in its recommendation to President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 over the summer, she announced last month that she would not endorse this proposal.
“I believe that ACURM’s recommendation reflects a lack of appreciation of the vitally important role that Brown faculty already play in protecting academic freedom under our community’s processes of shared governance,” Paxson wrote in her response to the recommendation.
Paxson contended that existing faculty committees already have the power to vote on this matter, and she did not want to set “a precedent for subverting established governance.”
At the rally, Sunrise Brown leader Trevor Wilkins ’26 tied the University’s commitment to addressing critical global issues to the growing threat of climate change.
Last spring, Sunrise launched its “DIRE” campaign, which calls on the University to dissociate from the fossil fuel industry and strengthen relationships with the city of Providence. Sunrise presented a report on dissociation to ACURM in January of 2024.
“What kind of scholars and innovators does that make us if we aim to solve this issue by taking money from the very people who perpetuate these problems?” Wilkins asked the crowd. “Brown needs a faculty vote to dissociate from fossil fuels and stop taking their money.”
Professor of Environmental Studies and Sociology J. Timmons Roberts alleged that fossil fuel companies are “painting themselves green” by donating large amounts of money for research.
“Universities are an integral part of strategies of fossil fuel companies to maintain their social license to operate,” said Timmons Roberts, who is also the executive director of the Climate Social Science Network. The CSSN “promotes research and scholarship in the field of climate politics,” according to the network’s website.
In their report, ACURM also recommended the creation of a mentorship committee to inform faculty about fossil fuel research funding and proposed a review of research contributions from the fossil fuel industry by the Gift and Grants Review Committee, or GGRC. Paxson agreed to promote faculty education about research funding from fossil fuel companies, but she did not support the recommendation for a GGRC review.
Timmons Roberts deemed ACURM’s recommendations to be “perfectly reasonable” and urged the University to provide financial support for research labs dependent on fossil fuel money to help them transition away from this funding.
At the rally, Sunrise members called on faculty members to support a faculty vote on dissociation.
For Sunrise leader Garrett Brand ’26, climate activism on the local and university level is “more important than ever” in light of the recent U.S. presidential election.
“With the results of the election, climate action at the federal level is going to be gone for the next four years,” Brand said. “But that does not mean that our movement stops.”
President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to reverse many climate policies implemented by the Biden administration in recent years. His nominees for energy secretary and Environmental Protection Agency administrator are expected to push for expanded oil and gas drilling and roll back clean energy initiatives.
Sunrise leader Caitlyn Carpenter ’26 emphasized the group’s efforts to work with other activist organizations and “build climate resilience through fighting for intersectional issues,” such as housing justice.
“This is the beginning, not the end,” Carpenter said.
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.
