SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD VOLUME CLIX, ISSUE 4
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024
WHAT’S INSIDE
METRO
Ceremony cafe to open second location SEE CEREMONY PAGE 4
ARTS & CULTURE
BCSA hosts annual banquet for Lunar New Year
41 sit-in demonstrators plead not guilty to willful trespassing on Monday, Wednesday RYAN DOHERTY / HERALD
All 41 students pleaded not guilty to “willful trespassing within school buildings” and received a pretrial conference date of March 5.
Pre-trial date for all 41 BDC demonstrators set for March 5 BY RYAN DOHERTY AND TOM LI UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR AND METRO EDITOR The remaining 21 of the 41 students arrested at a Dec. 11 University Hall sit-in for divestment and ceasefire were arraigned at 9 a.m. Wednesday. The other 20 students were arraigned on Monday. All 41 students pleaded not guilty to “willful trespassing within school buildings” and received a pretrial conference date of March 5. An hour before the arraignment, approximately 75 students, faculty and
staff members gathered on the Main Green in support of the students who were arrested. The group then walked to the Providence 6th Division District Court, where the arraignment took place. “It’s great to see people remaining energized to come out to things even at eight in the morning,” said Garrett Brand ’26, one of the students who were arraigned. His mom came to support him as well. “She’s supportive of me making my choice to protest and all that, but it’s a lot for her as a Black parent to see her son wrapped up in the legal system,” Brand said. “She really wanted to be there, and I’m happy to have her.” At an Undergraduate Council of Students town hall last November, University Investment Office officials
UNIVERSITY HALL
said that Brown does not “directly invest in any weapons manufacturers” or companies with direct ties to Israel. A large portion of the endowment is invested in external managers with undisclosed, confidential portfolios. University Spokesperson Brian Clark previously wrote to The Herald that the University is “confident that our external managers have the highest level of ethics and share the values of the Brown community, including the rejection of violence.” At the arraignment, the students were granted permission to travel out of state, and all students agreed to return to court for future proceedings and give up the right to an extradition trial in their home state. Students also received a personal recognizance set at $1000 — a release without bail unless
BY ANISHA KUMAR UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR During the Brown Corporation’s meetings held last week, members of the University’s highest governing body approved a 4.75% tuition increase and a 4.5% salary pool increase. President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 wrote in her summary that members felt “moved” by student protests for divestment. Beyond announcing tuition increases, faculty compensation pool changes and gift acceptances, in this year’s meeting summary Paxson also addressed student demands for divestment.
SPORTS
Julia Bedell ’25 awarded GEC specialist of the week SEE BEDELL PAGE 7
UNIVERSITY NEWS
they fail to make future court dates. “We weren’t there for terribly long, but it’s just the very beginning of what is going to be an entirely unnecessary and arduous legal proceeding,” Brand said, He believes the proceedings are “wasting the city’s taxpayer money for Brown to prosecute its own students.” University Spokesperson Brian Clark did not respond to request for comment on the protesters’ characterization of the proceedings. Hanna Aboueid ’24 worries that the charges “might take the spotlight off of the real issue, which is Palestine and divestment,” she said. “We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that this isn’t used as a distrac-
Students confront Paxson at BUCC meeting SEE BUCC PAGE 16
POSTMAGAZINE
SEE ARRAIGNMENT PAGE 3
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Corp. approves 4.75% tuition CCB to pursue monetary bump, discusses protests compensation for members Corporation was “moved” by student protestors, Paxson writes
SEE BANQUET PAGE 13
“Members of the Corporation shared how moved they were by the conviction of the activists holding protests throughout the meetings, including the group of students advocating for divestment during a days-long protest that ended Friday evening,” Paxson wrote, referring to the weeklong hunger strike urging the Corporation to consider a divestment proposal. The hunger strike culminated in a day of protests on Friday, when strikers and other students chanted outside buildings and rooms where Corporation members were gathering. Paxson wrote in her message that divestment proposals should be submitted to the Advisory Committee on University Resource Management, which makes divestment recommen-
SEE CORPORATION PAGE 14
Source for funding unclear as CCB aims to measure student support BY KATIE JAIN AND JULIANNA CHANG UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITORS
The Class Coordinating Board plans to pursue monetary compensation for members’ work on campus, according to CCB Senior Co-Presidents Logan Torres ’24 and Becca Erdenebulgan ’24. Torres and Erdenebulgan hope that their proposal — which requests compensation in any feasible format, such as tuition reductions or hourly stipends — will be placed on the ballot as a referendum in the Student Government Association spring elections. CCB has not determined the compensation amount it will request. The source of funding is also so far unde-
cided. First, CCB hopes to measure whether the student body supports the group’s members getting compensation through the referendum, Erdenebulgan said. According to Torres, CCB is currently considering asking “any office that integrates itself into serving the student body, or has some sort of student facing role,” to fund their initiative, citing the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity and the President’s Office as examples. Student Activities Office Director Joie Forte declined to comment on CCB’s planned proposal for funding because she did not review the proposal. SAO advises all student-run campus organizations, including CCB. Torres and Erdenebulgan argued that members of CCB are unique-
SEE CCB PAGE 14
SEE POST PAGE 8
ARTS & CULTURE
SEE BANQUET PAGE 13