Brown rejects calls to divest from companies in connection with pro-Palestinian protests on campus

BOSTON (AP) — Brown University has rejected a proposal to divest from 10 companies that protesters say were facilitating the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.

The vote Tuesday by the Corporation of Brown follows a committee report recommending against divesting partly because the university has little investment in them and the amount it does would not cause social harm. The report estimated the school had no direct investment into the companies, which included Airbus, Boeing, General Dynamics Corp and and General Electric Co., and that about 1% of its endowment was indirectly invested in the companies..

“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,” University Chancellor Brian Moynihan and President Christina Paxson said in a joint statement. “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.”

Last spring, the university committed to an October vote by its governing board on a divestment proposal, after an advisory committee weighed in on the issue. In exchange, student protesters agreed to dismantle their encampment on campus.