Mon Sep 09 15:42:43 UTC 2024: ## Brown University Trustee Resigns Over Planned Israel Divestment Vote
**PROVIDENCE, RI** – A trustee at Brown University, Joseph Edelman, has resigned in protest of the university’s upcoming vote on divestment from Israel, scheduled for October. Edelman, a trustee since 2019, claims the decision to hold the vote is a “stunning failure of moral leadership” and a “weakness towards student activists,” rather than a reflection of facts and values.
Edelman specifically criticizes the timing of the vote, arguing it is “morally reprehensible” to hold it following the recent Hamas attacks on Israel, which he describes as the “deadliest assault on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.” He further accuses the university of rewarding disruptive student activists who have engaged in “promoting violence and antisemitism at Brown.”
Brown University defends the decision to hold the vote, stating that Edelman misunderstands the process. Vice President for News and Strategic Campus Communications, Brian E. Clark, emphasizes that the university has a longstanding process for examining divestment proposals, and that this particular vote is simply a part of that process.
The vote has stirred controversy on campus, with some students opposing divestment and presenting a 39-page memo arguing that Israel does not meet the university’s criteria for “social harm.” The outcome of the vote remains uncertain, but the resignation of a trustee highlights the deep divisions and strong emotions surrounding the issue.
First Piper 