Brown University meets agreement with encampment ; Main Green cleared within hours
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — Brown University's Main Green is cleared after pro-Palestinian protesters pitched tents there last Wednesday.
Gaza Solidarity Encampment spokesperson Arman Deendar said the university and encampment came to an agreement Tuesday afternoon.
Brown shared the agreement and President Christina Paxson's letter to the campus community.
"The pressure of us being, staying on the Green, staying here saying we will not move until you listen to our demands really forced her [Paxson] to take action," said Deendar. "That's something that encampments and students across the country should be noticing is that it's working. They're listening."
The Main Green took a 180-degree turn in just a matter of hours, now completely clear of tents. This was just one stipulation of the agreement, another a vote regarding divestment.
"The one big concession we gave up is that we have to get the hell of this Main Green by 5 p.m. today," yelled one camper.
The Gaza Solidarity Encampment pitched their tents last Wednesday and remained on the Main Green to protest violence in Gaza and demand that Brown divest from any companies with ties to the Israeli government.
"Brown's endowment is invested in a host of companies like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and others that have direct ties to the Israeli military and especially in the building of weapons and other materials that support the settlement of the West Bank in Israeli-Palestine," said Deendar.
The encampment was joined by some faculty and community members like John Gallagher over the past week.
"The institution they should divest. They should divest. The money is going into evil, evil purposes," said Gallagher.
Monday's negotiations between the encampment and the university resulted in a 24-hour extension, giving them more time to draw up a counter-proposal.
But on Tuesday afternoon, an agreement was reached.
"As of just a few minutes ago, four representatives from the Brown Divest Coalition have signed an agreement and we have gotten a vote among the full corporation during their October corporation meeting," yelled one demonstrator.
Students who received conduct violations related to the encampment will not have to accept them but will remain on probation, and everyone had to clean and clear the green by 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
NBC 10's Temi-Tope Adeleye asked for Deendar's thoughts, knowing they cannot hold any more protests or encampments for the rest of the academic year.
"We were here for divestment. It's a stipulation we had to negotiate. I think at the end... this is a huge win for the divestment campaign," said Deendar. "It's a huge win in terms of getting our university to actually make actionable, concrete, material change."
Protests or encampments are not allowed throughout the academic year.
That includes reunion weekend and commencement which is on May 26.
Editor’s Note: Deendar’s original quote referring to the West Bank mentioning “Israel-Palestine.”
They contacted NBC 10 to correct the line, saying they meant “Israel-occupied Palestine.” Changes have been made to reflect that request.