Jews for Ceasefire Now Sit-In at University Hall
November 8, 2023
Following Israel’s initial bombing campaign of Gaza after Hamas’ resistance on October 7, anti-Zionist Jewish students formed Jews for Ceasefire Now (JFCN). As their first action, twenty students held a sit-in at University Hall where administrative offices are located, demanding for Brown University to: (1) use its social capital by calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and (2) to divest the endowment from companies funding Israel’s military and occupation of Palestine. JFCN specifically called on President Paxson to publicly commit to including a divestment resolution based off of ACCRIP’s 2020 recommendation on the agenda of the next Brown Corporation meeting. The students peacefully occupied the building for four hours, yet President Paxson and the University decided to call the Providence Police Department and have all twenty students arrested. The students were charged with trespassing, and the University refused to drop these charges, despite faculty and alumni letters sent in support of the JFCN protestors.
The arraignment was set for November 28; however, the University decided to drop the charges the day prior, following the shooting of a Brown Palestinian student and two of his friends over Thanksgiving weekend. In an email to students, President Paxson stated that her “hope is [dropping the charges] will help refocus attention on issues that are important to us as a community,” as opposed to being “distracted by other things that are divisive.”
Brown Divest Coalition Sit-In at University Hall
December 11, 2023
Called to action after the shooting of their Palestinian classmate and friend, 41 students from the Brown Divest Coalition (BDC) launched a sit-in at University Hall. The students shared the same divestment demands as JFCN. Despite Israel having killed almost 20,000 Palestinians at the time, President Paxson continued to refuse BDC’s demands and once again called on Providence Police to arrest the students. However, unlike with the JFCN sit-in, University Hall was turned into a jail, as the arrests and processing occurred inside the building to avoid the media attention garnered after the November sit-in. In a statement from University Spokesperson Brian Clark, the arraignments were to occur after students returned for the spring semester, and he added that “the University is prepared to escalate the level of criminal charges for future incidents of students occupying secure buildings.” On February 12 and 14, the BDC 41 were arraigned and pleaded not guilty to trespassing charges, though they received court support from students, faculty, and staff.
This marked difference in the treatment of the BDC—who were largely comprised of students of color—and JFCN continued a month later, when the University decided to place the 41 students on probation but did not do so for the twenty in November. As of May 2024, the University still has not dropped the charges against the BDC 41, despite urging from the Providence City Council and the arrested students’ offer to give a donation or complete community service instead.