Brown will convene a new committee to develop a clear University values statement, a faculty member announced at Tuesday’s faculty meeting. The announcement of the Committee of Institutional Values and Voice followed criticism of a lack of clearly defined institutional values during Brown’s divestment proceedings.
Brown’s advisory investment committee — the Advisory Committee on University Resources Management, or ACURM — recommended against divestment from 10 companies affiliated with Israel earlier this semester. ACURM’s recommendation was followed by the Corporation voting against divestment at an October special meeting.
The committee will be led by Jim Kellner, ACURM’s chair and a professor of ecology, evolution and organismal biology and environment and society. The committee will include two administrators, six faculty members and three students, among other stakeholders.
Kristina Mendicino, chair of the Faculty Executive Committee, introduced the Committee of Institutional Values and Voice.
“On the one hand, ACURM is being asked to make decisions about morals and ethics and values,” she said at the meeting. “On the other hand, Brown has no value statement to clearly define what those values are, and the charge of ACURM is very narrow.”
ACURM members highlighted this ambiguity in their report on divestment. “If it is the case going forward that divestment action will only be considered when the investment or expenditure of University resources directly causes ‘social harm,’” they wrote, then “the University will almost never divest its resources from any entity.”
Some pro-divestment student activists have criticized ACURM’s decision as well.
According to Mendicino, in a recent meeting with President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20, it became clear that a “higher level discussion of University values” would be helpful when it comes to rethinking ACURM’s decision.
Paxson expressed enthusiasm for the committee, emphasizing that the issues it will address have been discussed across campus with students, faculty and members of the Corporation.
She added that this committee will help the University implement consistent policies and a “common understanding of how we should be doing business.”
Cate Latimer is a senior staff writer covering faculty and higher education. She is from Portland, OR, and studies English and Urban Studies. In her free time, you can find her playing ultimate frisbee or rewatching episodes of Parks and Rec.
