Campus Watch October 17, 2024

Brown Votes Against Israel Divestment

The Corporation of Brown University voted against a proposal to divest from 10 companies that conduct business with Israel on Oct. 8.

Chancellor Brian Moynihan and President Christina Paxson announced the decision in a letter to the community, stating that the board based its decision on the recommendation by the Advisory Committee on University Resources Management (ACURM); ACURM found “that Brown has no direct investments in any of the companies targeted for divestment and that any indirect exposure for Brown in these companies is so small that it could not be directly responsible for social harm.” Additionally, Moynihan and Paxson noted that “if the Corporation were to divest, it would signal to our students and scholars that there are ‘approved’ points of view to which members of the community are expected to conform. This would be wholly inconsistent with the principles of academic freedom and free inquiry, and would undermine our mission of serving the community, the nation and the world.”

Anti-Israel Protesters Occupy Pomona College’s Carnegie Hall

A slew of anti-Israel protesters occupied Pomona College’s Carnegie Hall on Oct. 7.

The Claremont Courier reported that 100 anti-Israel protesters were demanding that the college divest from companies that conduct business with Israel and some of those protesters went inside the building. “Once inside, demonstrators used signs to obscure windows on the east side of the building, and one student blocked the west entrance to persons not affiliated with the colleges, while another person zip-tied the building’s north exit,” the Courier reported. “Photos showed the Arabic word ‘INTIFADA’ graffitied in red paint in a hall and elevator.” There have been no reported arrests after protesters left the building. College President G. Gabrielle Starr said in an Oct. 11 letter to community members that what occurred was “unacceptable” and that “the vast majority of those who occupied Carnegie are not Pomona students.” Those who are students will face discipline and that those that aren’t students “will be banned from campus.”

Anti-Israel Group at Columbia Endorses “Armed Resistance”

The Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) announced in a statement posted to Instagram on Oct. 8 that it supports “liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance.”

CUAD retracted its apology over one of its members, Khymani James, saying that “Zionists don’t deserve to live” and “be grateful that I’m just not going out and murdering Zionists.” “We caused irrevocable harm to you by contributing to the ostracization you experienced from your fellow students, fellow organizers, the media, and the public,” CUAD’s statement read. The group later added that “in the face of violence from the oppressor equipped with the most lethal military force on the planet, where you’ve exhausted all peaceful means of resolution, violence is the only way forward.” James thanked CUAD for its “beautiful” statement on X and that “anything I said, I meant it.”

University spokesman Ben Chang said in a statement to USA Today, “Statements advocating for violence or harm are antithetical to the core principles upon which this institution was founded. Calls for violence have no place at Columbia or any university.”

Anti-Israel Protesters Get Confrontational When Gaza Aid Measure Fails at UMich Student Gov’t

Anti-Israel protesters became “confrontational” when University of Michigan’s Central Student Government (CSG) rejected a measure that would have sent $440,000 to a West Bank university aiming rebuilding education in the Gaza Strip, Campus Reform reported.

The money would have gone toward Birtzeit University’s Rebuilding Hope Initiative; Campus Reform noted that Birtzeit “is a subject of controversy for its ties to terrorism.” When the measure failed, “yelling and physical confrontations” occurred, resulting “in police escorts and student government members reportedly having to run to their cars,” Campus Reform stated. CSG General Counsel Tyler Watt, a law student, told Campus Reform that the “mob got more confrontational” and that he had to give some people a ride because they didn’t feel comfortable walking home or taking public transportation due to the nature of the protesters. Watt and other students also told Campus Reform that the protesters shouted slurs like “race traitor” at Arab American members of the CSG who voted against the measure as well as other slurs like “colonialist Mexican” and “Zionist whore.”

Swarthmore College Condemns SJP’s “Glorification of Violence”

Swarthmore College Vice President of Student Affairs Stephanie Ives issued a statement on Oct. 11 condemning the campus Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter for calling Oct. 7 a “glorious day” on their Instagram account.

The SJP chapter said on their Instagram account in part: “Happy October 7th everyone! In honor of this glorious day and all our martyred revolutionaries …”

“Swarthmore College condemns the statements made in the SJP Instagram post and rejects the glorification of violence. Celebrating the killing of innocent people is shocking and reprehensible,” Ives said. “I would hope, despite all the various and often opposing views that exist at Swarthmore, we can at least agree on that.”