Upon receipt of the Advisory Committee’s report, the student divestment proposal will be forwarded for review by the Brown Corporation

PROVIDENCE, R.I [Brown University] — Brown University’s Advisory Committee on University Resource Management (ACURM) has submitted its report to university President Christina H. Paxson on the student-led proposal, which calls for Brown to divest from ten companies that allegedly “facilitate Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.” “.

In a letter to campus dated Tuesday, Oct. 1, Paxson acknowledged receiving ACURM’s report on Monday, Sept. 30, and outlined next steps for the Corporation of Brown’s review of ACURM’s opinions University.

Paxson noted that the university is committed to releasing ACURM’s report, and consistent with past practice, the committee’s report will be released later in October, concurrent with the announcement of Brown Corporation’s decision to divest. This is consistent with established University processes for recommendations from advisory boards, working groups, task forces, and committees designated by the President to make a recommendation on matters of concern to the campus community.

Submission of the ACURM report completes the first step in a long-standing process Brown has pursued since the 1970s, under which any member of its community can submit a divestiture proposal for consideration.

“Following my initial review of the report, I am writing to inform the Brown community that ACURM has completed its work consistent with its mission, and I am moving on to the next step, formally submitting ACURM’s report to Brown’s senior governing body , the company, to Brown University for a vote that will take place later this month,” she wrote.

Paxson’s full letter to the campus community is included below.

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Dear members of the Brown Community,

On Monday, September 30, Brown’s Advisory Committee on University Resource Management (ACURM) presented me with its report on the student-submitted proposal, which calls for Brown to divest from a group of ten companies that allegedly “support the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.” facilitate”. This completes the first step in a long-standing process that Brown has followed since the 1970s in reviewing divestiture proposals submitted by members of our community.

ACURM, a committee made up of faculty, students, staff and alumni, is responsible for reviewing whether the investments and expenditures of the university’s financial resources are conducted in accordance with “ethical and moral standards consistent with the university’s mission and values.” Following my initial review of the report, I am writing to inform the Brown community that ACURM has completed its work consistent with its mission, and I am moving forward to the next step of formally presenting ACURM’s report to Brown’s senior governing body, to the Corporation of Brown University, for a vote that will take place later this month.

We know that many members of the Brown community have a strong interest in the contents of the ACURM report, and as I wrote in my August 1 message to campus, we are committed to publishing the ACURM report. In line with previous practice, the report will be published later this month, concurrent with the announcement of the company’s decision to divest. The ACURM report will remain confidential until it is released as part of the Company’s final vote on the divestiture issue.

This is consistent with established University processes for recommendations from advisory boards, working groups, task forces, and committees appointed by the President to make a recommendation on matters of concern to the campus community. The administration typically publishes recommendations along with actions to be taken based on those recommendations or, in some cases, to solicit input to inform a process for pursuing action steps. In this case, no further input is sought. ACURM completed a comprehensive process of gathering community input and feedback in developing its report, and there are clear next steps in Brown’s long-standing process for reviewing divestment proposals. It is the President’s job to decide whether the committee’s opinion should be forwarded for a vote within the company, which I committed to doing in the spring.

Maintaining the confidentiality of the ACURM report pending the vote should help minimize the likely spread of misinformation – including any premature and unsubstantiated claims about the direction of a corporate vote that has not yet taken place – while providing protection against activities that could be detrimental to the well-being of members of our community.

The remainder of this letter provides an overview of the process to date and describes the next steps for the Company’s review of this issue.

ACURM’s work is now complete

The delivery of the ACURM report to my office on September 30 concluded the committee’s work. In August and September, ACURM led an independent process to engage the community and review the Brown Divest Coalition’s student-led proposal, which was presented to the committee in July. The detailed guidance I provided to ACURM this summer at the start of its project remains available online.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to all committee members for their thoughtful efforts to manage an inclusive process that includes the involvement of students who support and oppose divestment, as well as other members of the Brown community and interested members of the public. The committee’s approach reflects Brown’s decades-long commitment to promoting open discourse on difficult issues.

I continue to remind our community that the path we are following is not new. For decades, any member of the community has been able to submit a divestment proposal through ACURM and its predecessor committees. As part of the agreement reached with the students to peacefully end the unauthorized encampment on College Green in April, the students agreed to continue this established process to consider a divestment proposal and I agreed to forward ACURM’s recommendation to the company.

It is worth noting, however, that this process would not be possible without the commitment of ACURM faculty, students, staff and alumni who are prepared to play an important role in helping our community closely examine the proposals the committee makes receives. This becomes particularly difficult on issues where individuals hold deeply held beliefs and strongly opposing views. I want to thank all ACURM members for helping to bring clarity to an open and contentious issue that has been a focus of great community interest at Brown for years.

Next steps: Company review of the ACURM report

In preparation for receiving the ACURM report, the Company reviewed legal, ethics, governance, financial and investment policy, and fiduciary responsibilities issues over the summer and early fall. This included preparing the review of the ACURM report, consistent with the Committee’s mandate, to:

“…weigh the severity of the social harm, the potential effectiveness of various means of influencing relevant policies or behaviors, the University’s need to maintain sound financial policies, and the consistency of various proposed recommendations with maintaining a conducive environment at Brown for teaching and scholarship Research, including the company’s statement on academic freedom for faculty and students.”

In the coming weeks, the company will carefully review ACURM’s report and materials prepared by students for and against divestment. After further consultation, the Company will vote on whether or not to accept ACURM’s advisory opinion. I expect the Company’s decision to be made public a few days after the vote, giving trustees and grantees time to participate in drafting a response to the decision before publication.

The Company remains committed to a fair and balanced review that is well informed by the perspectives of members of the Brown community and maintains the integrity of Brown’s long-standing board governance processes and policies.

In conclusion

I understand that the coming weeks may continue to bring stark differences of opinion to the forefront for those in our community who have strong views on all sides of the divestment issue. I remain committed to respecting a process that Brown has maintained for nearly 50 years and holding a vote that brings clarity to our community on the divestment issue.

Brown has a long history of tackling difficult problems hard, and it is important that we remain true to our values ​​of open discourse and respect for others as we confront these issues.

Sincerely,

Christina H. Paxson
president