According to a referendum distributed by Brown’s Undergraduate Council of Students, 73% of undergraduate respondents are unhappy with Brown University’s corporate leadership and would like at least one person on the Brown Corporate Board representing undergraduates. Twenty-six percent of the undergraduate student body responded to the referendum.
The students who conducted the referendum say it shows a deep divide between the student body and the university’s leadership, who have been at odds over pro-Palestinian activism on campus for over a year now. But Brian Clark, a spokesperson for the university, said the referendum offers the opinion of just “a portion of one specific group of constituents,” and underscored that the results do not require the school to take any action. Any changes to the structure of Brown’s governance would have to be approved by the current board, Clark said.
Isaac Slevin is a member of the Undergraduate Student Council. He says besides showing students’ upset over the Brown Corporation’s decision not to divest from companies students say profit from human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories, the results also highlight that students would like more meaningful decision-making power, beyond being members of advisory bodies and other forms of campus governance that currently exist.
“There’s less incentive to engage in these performative committees,” said Slevin.
Last academic year, a Brown Daily Herald poll surveying students showed that 68% of undergraduates disapproved of the administration’s response to Israel’s war in Gaza, and 67% approved of divestment.
Many students also oppose the disciplinary action Brown has taken against pro-Palestinian student protestors. Slevin said students would also like greater opportunity to review internal disciplinary cases. Most recently, the university temporarily suspended the Brown chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine following a protest during a board meeting earlier this month. The suspension is contingent on an external investigation.
In an email showing the results, the Undergraduate Student Council also said it plans to host a town hall meeting next week to hear more about changes undergrads want to see.
