As of 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, no arrests at the encampments had been made, although Brown University had promised it would take disciplinary action against students who break school policy while protesting on campus. Students with the group behind the encampments, Brown Divest Coalition, say the number of students participating in the encampment grew from about 75 to about 90 over the course of the day. Hundreds of community members, including students, faculty, supporters from the Brown Graduate Labor Organization, and other allies, had surrounded the encampments. Late Wednesday evening, a small group of about 7 pro-Israeli students stood nearby.
The encampments cropped up early Wednesday morning, according to students and the school. At around 7 a.m., students say, campus police began scanning their IDs. A spokesperson for the school wrote in a statement emailed to news media that those students will “face conduct proceedings.”
Rafi Ash, a spokesperson for the encampment, said students want to shed light on what’s happening to students in Gaza, where all academic institutions have been shuttered, according to reporting from Al Jazeera
“There are no universities left in Gaza. That is the importance of the student movement– the complete destruction of academia in Palestine,” said Ash.
Students speaking for the encampment activists say the action began Wednesday in solidarity with other students around the country, not in direct response to the $15 billion in military aid to Israel approved by Congress this week.
The encampment and surrounding protests also continue to support two main goals students at Brown have been making since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. Students want the school to divest its $6.6 billion dollar endowment from companies students say are aiding the killing of Palestinians. The university’s endowment is, through funds, indirectly invested in several companies that manufacture weapons, according to SEC filings.
The university told students in an email Tuesday that it reserves the right to seek police intervention against student protestors who break the law.
“Any encampments or offenses violating the law — including any point at which escalating circumstances dictate the need for encampment removal — may include law enforcement response and arrest,” wrote Provost Frank Doyle, who also said the school determined “encampment itself is not an arrestable offense.”
Despite the encampment not being an arrestable offense, the school has still said it is against campus policy to camp on the main green.
Rafi Ash said the policy on no camping has been enforced unevenly. Ash said on April 20, an unofficial holiday some people use to celebrate marijuana, students camped out on the green and the university did not levy punishments.
“We frequently have people who camp on the main green,” Ash said, who called the university’s approach “very clearly a policy that is used specifically to target activist groups.”
A spokesperson for the university did not return an email seeking comment on the school’s response to students camping on the main green on April 20.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include new information about the encampments. Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the amount of military aid Congress voted to send to Israel.
