It has been confirmed that Brown University reached a deal with students to consider divesting from "Israel" in exchange for ending the encampment for Gaza on campus.

This marks the first major move by an elite American university amid increasing Gaza Solidarity Encampments around the US on college campuses.

Brown's President Christina Paxson said in her statement that students agreed to end the protest and clear the location by 5:00 pm local time Tuesday, refraining "from further actions that would violate Brown's conduct code through the end of the academic year."

In exchange for that, "five students will be invited to meet with five members of the Corporation of Brown University in May to present their arguments to divest Brown's endowment from 'companies enabling and profiting from the genocide in Gaza'."

Divestment near?

As the board is due to vote on the proposal in October, students rejoiced as they chanted, "With love not fear, divestment is getting near".

Brown student Leo Corzo-Clark said, "We are ending [the encampment] knowing that we made a huge victory for divestment at Brown, for this international movement and a victory for the people of Palestine."

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Sam Theoharis, another student protester, said that Rhode Island University "has come to the table to listen to our demands and to listen to its students and to consider divesting from war, divesting from death, divesting from occupation."

Paxson expressed in her statement that "the devastation and loss of life in the Middle East has prompted many to call for meaningful change, while also raising real issues about how best to accomplish this."

However, she said, "I have been concerned about the escalation in inflammatory rhetoric that we have seen recently, and the increase in tensions at campuses across the country."

Columbia calls reinforcements

This comes after Columbia University said yesterday that students who took over a campus building as part of pro-Palestinian protests face being expelled from their academic programs, the latest move in a standoff with school officials.

"Students occupying the building face expulsion," Columbia's Office of Public Affairs said in a statement, claiming that the protesters were provided "the opportunity to leave peacefully" but instead declined and escalated the situation, failing to mention the deployment of police earlier to crack down on the peaceful protests. 

Now, police have sealed off the Columbia University campus, erecting barricades around it, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporter.

"We will remain here, drawing from the lessons of our people [in Gaza] that stay put, and hold their ground even under the worst conditions," a protester told reporters outside Hind's Hall. Despite punitive action taken against students and threats to expel others, the movement has remained steadfast, vowing to carry on with the protests until their demands are met. 

In a nod to the 1968 anti-war protests, #ColumbiaUniversity students took over #HamiltonHall, renaming it Hind's Hall.

It was renamed after Hind Rajab, the 6-year-old #Palestinian girl who was brutally killed by Israeli tanks a couple of months ago.

The Hall was taken over by… pic.twitter.com/6OKUZeYiOa

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) April 30, 2024

Read more: How Columbia University is the new face of the Intellectual Intifada