A group of 23 pro-Palestinian Rhode Island School of Design students and one University of Rhode Island student have sequestered themselves in RISD’s Prov-Wash building, where they spent Monday night. The students are calling on their school to be transparent about its investments, and to divest from any companies with ties to Israel.
RISD president Crystal Williams and Provost Touba Ghadessi met with students for six hours last night, though Luca Antonio Colannino, a spokesperson for the student group occupying the building, RISD Students for Justice in Palestine, said the school and the students remained far apart on student demands.
“What Crystal and Touba were offering us was not even close to the demands set out and how they were meant to progress the institution in relation to genocide,” said Colannino.
The sit-in began Monday at 9 a.m.
Sadie Lewis is a Jewish freshman who is part of the group of students who have locked themselves in a room facing Washington Street. She said in a phone interview she’s feeling scared that she may be facing discipline.
“I’m super nervous. Yeah, really, really nervous but really hopeful. I hope we can all divest and be united in that,” she said.
Lewis added that there have been no altercations between the students and the RISD Department of Public Safety personnel, who the students are cordoning off from the room they have occupied by forming a human chain, according to Lewis, as well as the group’s livestream.
Colannino said Israel’s assault on the city of Rafah, where hundreds-of-thousands of Palestinians are sheltering, was a catalyst for this action.
“We’re also here in solidarity with all encampments, sit-ins, occupations across universities across the country,” said Colannino, who joined the group as a freshman and is now a senior.
Colannino was supporting the students occupying the building from the outside, along with dozens of other protesters, including several from the Brown University encampment that concluded peacefully last week.
Students For Justice in Palestine at RISD have four main demands, according to a press release they sent to media:
“The sit-in protesters refuse to leave the Providence Washington building, Prov-Wash, until RISD President Crystal Williams:
1. Provides total fiscal transparency of RISD’s investment portfolio;
2. Commits to a holistic divestment from companies, corporations, and institutions that are implicated in sustaining Israeli Apartheid;
3. Establishes a student oversight committee for future investments;
4. Publicly condemns the Israeli Occupation of Gaza as a genocide.”
In an email to students on April 26, Williams told students she did not plan to request police presence at rallies like this one.
“Because of the nature of our city-based campus and the proximity of our buildings and gathering spaces (e.g., RISD Beach, corner of Washington Place, and S. Main, etc.) to public streets, when there are large demonstrations, Providence Police show up, typically without our invitation. … If they are present, their aim is to protect the peace,” she said.
RISD spokesperson Jaime Marland did not respond to a question sent Monday about whether the school was threatening students with internal discipline, but wrote “only through constructive conversation can we find a feasible and respectful path forward.”
In a message to students on May 3, Williams said the school’s $4.42 million endowment was already responsibly invested due to a policy called “environmental, social, and governance,” or ESG, the school adheres to in its financial practices.
“Our investment portfolio is overwhelmingly aligned with our stated values and the concerns shared with us by RSJP [RISD Students for Justice in Palestine]. RISD is simply in a very different investment position than many other institutions nationwide where students are protesting. As we look toward the future, we will continue to abide by the ESG policy,” Williams said.
