Following two successful student body referenda (among undergraduate students [69%] and graduate students [87%]) and written support from 63 faculty members, Brown University’s Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policy (ACCRIP) voted with a two-thirds majority to recommend “the complete divestment of University funds from companies facilitating human rights violations in Palestine.” View the full report here.

Initial Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 10, 2020

Media contact: Ben Bienstock | 917-304-0206 | benjamin_bienstock@brown.edu

Brown University Committee Publishes Report Recommending Divesture from Companies Facilitating Human Rights Abuses in Palestine

“Any company that profits from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land is complicit in human rights abuses. If Brown University is directly invested in such companies, it certainly has the moral duty to break any financial relations with them”

PROVIDENCE, RI – March 10, 2020 – Yesterday, Brown University’s Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies (ACCRIP) recommended the complete divestment of University funds from companies facilitating human rights violations in Palestine, in a newly published report. The full recommendation affirms in no uncertain terms that the University has an ethical obligation to pursue full divestment, just as it had when faced with past humanitarian crises in South Africa and Sudan. 

In December, the Committee voted by a two-thirds majority to recommend divestiture to President Christina Paxson and the Brown Corporation. ACCRIP’s role is to advise the University president on issues of corporate responsibility and ethical management of the University’s investments. 

“Any company that profits from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land is complicit in human rights abuses,” wrote the Committee. “If Brown University is directly invested in such companies, it certainly has the moral duty to break any financial relations with them. … We believe that recommending divestiture is the most appropriate response to the severe social harm experienced by the Palestinian people.”

This report comes almost a year after the launch of the Brown Divest campaign, and represents an important victory for the movement for Palestinian rights. ACCRIP’s report reaffirms the will of the student body, which last spring voted in favor of divestment with a 69% majority. 

“Brown University has an opportunity to be a national leader in affirming the human rights of Palestinians and standing for justice around the world. Students have worked tirelessly to ensure that our university is on the right side of history, and this report is a huge step forward,” said Ben Bienstock, a senior at Brown and an organizer with the Brown Divest campaign. 

After the student referendum, over one hundred faculty and over forty alumni signed petitions in favor of divestment. ACCRIP’s historic report also marks the first time that an Ivy League university body has officially recommended divestment from companies engaged in human rights violations against Palestinians. 

Brown Divest looks forward to working closely with President Paxson and the Corporation to ensure that the University heeds this recommendation fully and promptly.