On a recent sunny day in early spring, the Brown University main green space was filled with students sun-bathing. It’s hard to imagine now, but this time last year, the university was a major hub of pro-Palestinian activism. Now, with the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian territories collapsing and a Brown Medicine doctor deported, […]
student protests
ICE arrests Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University protests
Mahmoud Khalil was inside his university-owned apartment Saturday night when several Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered and took him into custody.
3 Columbia deans ousted for texts that ‘touched on … antisemitic tropes’
The three were texting each other during a panel discussion on Jewish life on campus last May, mocking and disparaging students’ complaints of antisemitism.
23 RISD students are occupying the Prov-Wash building
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 […]
Columbia and Emory universities change commencement plans after weeks of turmoil
Columbia cancels its main ceremony, while Emory’s events will now take place in the suburbs outside its Atlanta campus. The moves come after weeks of protests against the war in Gaza.
Ian Donnis’ Rhode Island politics roundup for May 3, 2024
It’s an outrage that the new documentary about the secret apartment at Providence Place has yet to screen in Rhode Island. You can follow me through the week on threads and what we used to call the twitters. Here we go. *** Want to get my column in your inbox every Friday? Just sign up […]
Brown University professors accuse administrators of ‘intimidation, threats, and harassment’
Some professors at Brown University are accusing the school’s administration of surveilling and harassing faculty members who attended a pro-Palestinian encampment at the school’s Providence campus. In a statement put out by Brown’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, or AAUP, the professors specifically take issue with letters sent to several faculty members […]
Student protesters, administrators at Brown University reach deal to clear encampment
Brown University has reached a deal with the group that launched a pro-Palestinian encampment last week, Brown Divest Coalition. In exchange for students clearing the encampment by 5 p.m. Tuesday and promising not to engage in unauthorized protests through the rest of the semester, administrators have agreed to bring a divestment proposal to a vote […]
As student protesters get arrested, they risk being banned from campus too
Students continue to protest at campuses across the country, despite the risk of arrest. Some schools now threaten demonstrators with disciplinary action, while others promise the opposite.
Pro-Palestinian campus protesters face looming deadlines and risk of arrest
Hundreds of students have been arrested for participating in pro-Palestinian protests in recent days. And some schools, like Columbia and GW, have given them deadlines to dismantle their encampments.


