Brown University urged by 24 state attorneys general not to divest from Israel

If Brown University divests from companies with business relationship with Israel, it could trigger anti-Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions laws in dozens of states, 24 state attorney generals warned in a Monday letter urging the university trustees and fellows to vote against the anti-Israel policy in October. 

Led by Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin, the state officials said that a proposal to be placed before the Brown University Corporation as part of a deal with the Brown Divest Coalition (BDC) to end its encampment was "antisemitic and unlawful."

Adopting the proposal to divest from companies including "Textron, Safariland, Volvo Group, Airbus, Boeing, General Dynamics, General Electric, Motorola, and RTX Corporation" because of business relationships with Israel would result in " immediate and profound legal consequences for Brown, its employees, and its student body," said the attorney generals, because “Nearly three-fourths of the states have laws that prohibit them from contracting with, investing in, or otherwise doing business with entities that discriminate against Israel, Israelis, or those who do business with either."

Legal consequences could include termination of state relationships with Brown and its associates, divesting from university debt held by state pension plans and other investment programs, and otherwise refraining from interacting with the university. 

Pro-Palestinian protests at Brown University

Since the October 7 massacre, Brown has been one of the many American universities afflicted by intense anti-Israel protests. The attorney generals pointed to the Brown chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, noting it as crucial to the formation of BDC and accusing SJP of being linked to foreign terrorist organizations. 

BDC established a protest encampment on the Brown College Green on April 24, demanding that the university divest and break ties with any company that it saw as complicit in supposed Israeli military actions in Gaza.

Brown and BDC signed an agreement on April 30 for the anti-Israel activists to end the encampment and not to engage in further unauthorized demonstration actions that academic year, in exchange for a May meeting with members of the Corporation, the consideration of the divest proposal by the Advisory Committee on University Resource Management (ACRUM), a vote by the Corporation on divestment, and the promise that no "retaliation" will be taken against activists.

Brown President Christina Paxson on August 1 committed to advancing and accelerating the terms of the deal, despite saying of the agreement on April 30 that she could not "condone the encampment, which was in violation of University policies," and that she was "concerned about the escalation in inflammatory rhetoric that we have seen recently, and the increase in tensions at campuses across the country."

“It’s important to bring clarity to an open and divisive question that has been of high interest to members of our community for years,” Paxson wrote in an August 1 letter. “Brown has a long tradition of advocacy and activism, and also a strong record of directly tackling difficult questions with openness and respect for others."

Paxson explained that ACURM would consider a divestment proposal submitted by BDC, weighting Brown's need for sound financial policy versus the social harm of an investment and the effectiveness of being able to influence an issue.

ACURM will issue a recommendation by September 30, and Paxson said that she would forward the recommendation to the Corporation for its October meeting regardless of the committee's recommendation.

The states that challenged the divestment consideration as discriminatory included Arkansas, Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.