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Brown University committee on corporate responsibility votes in favor of BDS

The vote occurred months after students voted overwhelmingly in favor of a referendum, calling on the school to separate itself from companies that conduct business with Israel.

Brown University
The campus of Brown University in Providence, R.I. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

The Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies (ACCRIP) at Brown University in Providence, R.I., voted on Monday in favor of the BDS movement that aims to boycott Israel.

The final tally of the committee was six in favor, two against and one abstention.

The ACCRIP, which consists of university students, faculty, staff and alumni, vote on resolutions surrounding “ethical and moral issues or issues of alleged social harm with respect to the activities of corporations in which the University is an investor,” according to its website.

The resolution consisted of the following language:

“We recommend that the Brown Corporation exclude from Brown’s direct investments, and require Brown’s separate account investment managers to exclude from their direct investments, companies identified as facilitating human rights violations in Palestine. In addition, the Investment Office will share with all investment managers the University’s desire to adhere to this investment philosophy. We recommend that the Corporation and Brown’s separate account investment managers maintain the withdrawal of investments from said companies until they cease to engage in social harm … ”

The vote occurred several months after Brown students voted overwhelmingly in favor of a referendum, calling on the school to separate itself from companies that conduct business with the State of Israel.

Brown University has 1,000 Jewish undergraduates and 200 Jewish graduates, according to Hillel International. Chabad at Brown also serves Jewish students on campus.

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