Pro-Palestinian protesters set up encampment at Brown University, joining nationwide movement

Brown University students are the latest to join those at a growing number of elite schools with pro-Palestinian encampments on campus.

The encampment was set up around 6 a.m. Wednesday. As of 8 a.m., there were more than two dozen tents pitched on the main green and roughly 75 students participating. Campus security was keeping watch and allowed the demonstrators to remain in place.

Brown University joins growing protest movement

Brown has become part of a national phenomenon of small tent cities cropping up between school buildings.

"We’re seeing what’s happening all over campuses across the country, particularly starting with Columbia, but also at Emerson, MIT, Tufts, NYU, Berkley. The list just keeps going," said junior Arman Deendar. "We’re seeing how this is the first time since the genocide started in Gaza, we’re part of a national concerted movement that’s calling for a free Palestine."

Tensions erupted last week at Columbia University in New York, where more than 100 protesters were arrested, including the daughter of U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, Isra Hirsi. Students at Yale and New York University have also been arrested, and the public was recently barred from Harvard Yard.

More: Columbia cancels in-person classes; protesters arrested at Yale and NYU: Updates

Protesters again call for divestment from weapons manufacturers

Those at the Brown University encampment are repeating calls for the school to divest from weapons manufacturers, a demand the administration has repeatedly resisted.

The calls relate to a 2020 report from the Brown University Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Practices, which named numerous companies with which it wanted Brown to sever its financial ties. Those include:

• AB Volvo

• Airbus

• Boeing

• DXC

• General Dynamics

• General Electric

• Motorola

• Northrop Grumman

• Oaktree Capital

• Raytheon

• United Technologies

Brown President Christina Paxson has said that she does not support to the report, and that it failed to explain how divestment addresses social harms.

Students have repeatedly occupied campus spaces in protest in the last several months.

In December 2023, police arrested 41 student demonstrators calling for divestment and charged them with trespassing for remaining in University Hall past business hours. The students at the new encampment want those charges against their peers dropped.

More: Brown University arrests 41 student protesters at sit-in calling for divestment

Will students be arrested? No indications so far.

Whether police will enter the encampment remains to be seen. So far, students have received no warnings of arrest, but they have been told they may be violating conduct rules.

"They started the day – pretty immediately – admin and public safety came up to every member of the encampment with threats of disciplinary action," said sophomore Rafi Ash.

Deendar added that on Wednesday morning, shortly after the encampment went up, the administration asked students for IDs.

The students said they plan to stay in the encampment indefinitely and have no plans to attend classes.

What has the university said about the protest?

University spokesman Brian Clark said the encampment violates a university policy dating back to 2011.

Clark said "all of the students participating have been informed they will face conduct proceedings."

"Protest is an acceptable means of expression at Brown, but it becomes unacceptable when it violates university policies that are intended to ensure the safety of members of the Brown community and that there is no interference in the rights of others to engage in the regular operations of the university," Clark said. "University administrators and the Department of Public Safety will continually monitor the situation and act as necessary."

Clark added that intimidation, harassment and violence has not been witnessed at Brown's campus and won't be tolerated.

ADL gave Brown a D grade on campus antisemitism report card

Earlier this month, the Anti-Defamation League graded Brown a D on its antisemitism report card, which evaluates where colleges and universities stand in combating hate.

The ADL, in its report, said some pro-Palestine student rallies "have included anti-Zionist rhetoric" and pointed to a Title VI investigation of Brown opened by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights in January.

According to The Brown Daily Herald, the probe came after "a complaint filed by Zachary Marschall, editor-in-chief of conservative campus news site Campus Reform, which alleged the university discriminated against its students." Yes Marschall isn't affiliated with Brown, the Herald reported. The Herald was unable to get a copy of the complaint.

Other issues in the ADL's report include threats of violence against employees of the Brown-Rhode Island School of Design Hillel and a late 2023 incident in which "an individual reportedly broke into the residence of two Jewish students and left a note under their door that read: 'Those that live for death will die by their own hand.'"

The ADL gave 23 other schools a D grade, including numerous elite schools such as Columbia, Cornell, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton and Yale. Harvard, MIT, Tufts, Stanford and others received an F.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Brown University pro-Palestine protest encampment grows, joining national movement