Most states have laws barring them from doing business with entities that discriminate against Israel, which could be a problem for Brown University.
The Brown Corporation is scheduled to vote in October on a proposal to divest from companies that do business with Israel, part of the university’s deal struck in April with pro-Palestinian protesters to shut down the unauthorized encampment on College Green.
If the trustees approve the Brown Divest Now measure, however, 24 Republican attorneys general warn that the university could take a financial hit.
Thirty-eight states have anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions laws that prohibit them from “contracting with, investing in, or otherwise doing business with entities that discriminate against Israel, Israelis, or those who do business with either.”
“Adopting that proposal may require our States — and others — to terminate any existing relationships with Brown and those associated with it, divest from any university debt held by state pension plans and other investment vehicles, and otherwise refrain from engaging with Brown and those associated with it,” the attorneys general said Monday in a letter.
“We therefore urge you to reject his antisemitic and unlawful proposal,” the letter led by Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said.
Brown President Christina Paxson said earlier this month that the Brown Divest Coalition has submitted a proposal recommending “divestment from companies that facilitate the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.”
The university’s Advisory Committee on University Resource Management is scheduled to make a recommendation on the proposal by Sept. 30, accelerating the review process in accordance with the agreement with anti-Israel protesters.
“Historically through Brown’s process, the President has discretion to decide whether to advance an ACURM recommendation to the Corporation, but given the sustained and intense interest in this issue for so many in our community, I have promised that I will move the recommendation forward to the Corporation for consideration at its October 2024 meeting, regardless of whether ACURM votes in favor of or against recommending divestment,” Ms. Paxson said Aug. 1 in a statement.
The Brown Corporation is led by Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan.
The majority of Brown’s $6.6 billion endowment, or 96%, is invested with third-party financiers, meaning that any divestment decision would apply only to the 4% of the endowment directly invested by the university.
“None of the stocks Brown holds are with any of the companies discussed in the current divestment debates,” Jane Dietze, Brown vice president and chief investment officer, said on April 19 in a Q&A on the university’s website.
Companies now doing business with Israel include Textron, Safariland, Volvo, Airbus, Boeing, General Dynamics, General Electric, Motorola, and RTX Corp., formerly Raytheon and United Technologies.
“Like the Arab League’s boycott of Israel that the United States has long opposed,” the letter said, “this effort is designed to isolate and inflict economic harm on Israel, Israelis, and Israel’s allies.”
Brown has come under criticism for its handling of rising campus antisemitism triggered by the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians and others, which prompted Israel to declare war.
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights said last month that Brown took “no or little action in response” to about 75 reports of “alleged antisemitic, anti-Palestinian, and anti-Muslim harassment against students from October through late March.
They included allegations that “students pointed at a Jewish classmate’s Star of David jewelry and yelled ’Zionist pig Jew;’ a Palestinian-American student’s roommate berated them about their Palestinian-American identity for weeks; and students blocked a Jewish classmate from attending a pro-Palestinian rally,” the department said in its July 8 press release.
Classes for Brown’s fall semester begin Sept. 4.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.