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The top law enforcement officials in 24 states warned Brown University of financial penalties if the school\u2019s trustees vote in favor of a proposal calling for divestment from companies with close ties to Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Some states have begun reviewing pension investment and contracts \u201cto determine if Brown has already violated state law\u201d by agreeing to allow the October vote, the attorneys general from Arkansas, Florida, Texas and other states told the university\u2019s trustees in a letter <\/a>Monday. Approving the measure would have \u201cimmediate and profound legal consequences,\u201d they said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAdopting that proposal may require our states \u2014 and others \u2014 to terminate any existing relationships with Brown and those associated with it, divest from any university debt held by state pension plans and other investment vehicles, and otherwise refrain from engaging with Brown,\u201d said the group of Republican attorneys general, which was led by Tim Griffin of Arkansas.\u00a0<\/p>\n The warning underscores the stakes for the Ivy League school, which agreed to consider the demands of pro-Palestinian student activists as part of a deal to clear a protest encampment earlier this year. While school leadership has opposed politicizing the management of Brown\u2019s more than $6 billion endowment, the university said it would weigh the proposal after a committee makes a recommendation by the end of September.<\/p>\n Brown declined to comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Colleges across the US have been roiled since Hamas\u2019s deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the Jewish state\u2019s retaliation in Gaza. Three Ivy League presidents have resigned and universities have faced allegations of tolerating antisemitism. Several have also been accused of suppressing the speech of pro-Palestinian students and criticized for sending in police to clear protesters.<\/p>\n The vote at Brown is scheduled for an October meeting of the 54-member board of trustees, which is led by Brian Moynihan, chief executive officer of Bank of America<\/a> Corp.<\/p>\n While the extent of the 24 states\u2019 financial ties to Brown is unclear, their willingness to flex their financial power harks back to a high-profile dispute involving Unilever<\/a> Plc and its Ben & Jerry\u2019s ice cream brand.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2021, a group of attorneys general took on the consumer-goods company over the refusal by Ben & Jerry\u2019s to sell ice cream in the West Bank. Under pressure as states including New York announced plans to sell the Unilever shares in their state pension funds, the company ultimately overrode the boycott effort.\u00a0<\/p>\n That controversy offers an important example for Brown, said David Webber, a law professor at Boston University who advised the campaign to reverse the Ben & Jerry\u2019s Israel boycott.<\/p>\n \u201cIt shows that these attorneys general are not bluffing,\u201d Webber said. \u201cI frankly think they would welcome a high-profile fight with Brown.\u201d<\/p>\n One potential point of leverage for state officials is Brown\u2019s Choices Program<\/a>, a curriculum about history and current events, which according to the school has a presence in all 50 states and 1 million students worldwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n An initiative of Brown\u2019s history department, the program is sold to school districts and for use with professional development workshops. A contract<\/a> between the university and the Milwaukee public school system, for example, shows a rate of almost $3,000 per month.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Choices Program is scheduled to present its curriculum in October at a conference<\/a> in Georgia, one of the states that signed this week\u2019s letter to Brown.\u00a0<\/p>\n Many university administrators and lawmakers have for years rejected the so-called Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions, or BDS, movement against Israel, viewing it as antisemitic because it calls into question the legitimacy of the Jewish state and singles out the policies of one country.<\/p>\n States across the US have passed laws that prohibit discrimination against Israel. In Arkansas, for example, the state can\u2019t enter contracts valued at more than $1,000 with a company unless the contract includes a written certification that the person or company isn\u2019t engaged with a boycott of Israel \u2014 a law that was upheld by a federal appeals court.<\/p>\n Rhode Island, where Brown is based, has its own anti-BDS law on the books. But it wouldn\u2019t apply to Brown since it\u2019s a private university and doesn\u2019t receive enough public money to be impactful, said Mia Ackerman, a state lawmaker who introduced the legislation. She said she planned to research legislation that would encompass private entities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nBen & Jerry\u2019s<\/h3>\n
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