In photos: Students break hunger strike, demonstrate outside Corporation gatherings
The protestors, including the strikers and those involved in the solidarity fast, followed the Corporation’s movements throughout Friday.
At 5:13 p.m. Friday, 17 demonstrators ate dates to break their weeklong hunger strike.
The strike called on Brown University’s Corporation — its highest governing body — to consider a proposal for divestment that is consistent with a 2020 report by the Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Practices recommending divestment from “companies which profit from human rights abuses in Palestine.” Demonstrators delivered President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 a 50-page “critical edition” of the original 2020 report earlier this week.
Earlier in the day, around 150 students protested at several locations across campus as the Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — conducted their February meeting. The Corporation did not consider any divestment proposals during meetings this week but “acknowledged the activism on campus by students advocating for divestment,” Paxson shared in a statement.
The protestors, including the strikers and those involved in the solidarity fast, followed the Corporation’s movements throughout Friday, The Herald reported earlier Friday.
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At 1 p.m., the protestors filed into 111 Thayer St, silently lining the railings of the second and third floors as members of the Corporation attended a luncheon in the McKinney Conference Room. After all of the Corporation members left the building, Brown Divest Coalition organizer Eli Grossman called for students to gather in the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center at 5 p.m. to end their fast.
The Herald photographed the day’s movements: Students lining the perimeter of the Faculty Club in the early morning gray, the echoing call-and-response chants outside of closed windows at the Hope Club, the silent presence of hundreds in the Watson Institute and the last round of singing in the Blue Room as the sun set.
Here’s the day in photos:
Protesters gathered outside of the Faculty Club at around 8 a.m.Strikers offered copies of the Brown Divestment Coalition’s “critical edition” of the 2020 Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Practices, which recommended the University divest from “companies which profit from human rights abuses in Palestine,” to Corporation members and high ranking officials as they entered and exited the building.Léo Corzo-Clark ’25, one of the hunger strikers, held copies of the “critical edition” of the ACCRIP report, ready to pass out to exiting officials.At around 9:30, Corporation members moved down Benevolent Street to the Hope Club. The protestors followed, chanting for the Corporation to “divest from occupation.”Outside of the Hope Club, students took turns leading chants.At 10:39 a.m., Corporation members left the Hope Club through the back door on Waterman St. A group of student demonstrators followed as they boarded two shuttles marked “special” and “charter.”Students gathered outside both the east and west entrances to the Watson Institute as the Corporation held a meeting in the Joukowsky Forum on the first floor of the building.
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At around noon, the Corporation members took a break for a catered lunch on the third floor. Demonstrators outside chanted “How’s your lunch?”As members dined, the clock struck 12:30 p.m, marking a full week since the students’ hunger strike began.At roughly 1 p.m., demonstrators filed into the Watson Institute.Demonstrators occupied the second and third floors of the Watson Institute as they waited for members of the Corporation to leave the conference room.
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The demonstrators remained silent while in the building.Corzo-Clark, one of the hunger strikers, spoke to Corporation members as they walked past him to go to the bathroom. “All you need to do is listen,” he said. “Why are you so afraid of students' voices?”At about 2 p.m., Corporation members, with police escort, walked past protestors to exit the Watson Institute.After all Corporation members left the premises, organizers told the crowd to regroup in the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center to break their fast at 5 p.m.At about 5 p.m., after one last round of communal singing, the 17 hunger strikers ended their fast in the Blue Room of the Campus Center by eating dates.
Dana Richie
Dana Richie is a senior staff writer for Arts and Culture and the photo chief. She enjoys using multiple forms of media to capture peoples’ stories and quirks. In her free time, she loves knitting, learning about local history and playing ultimate frisbee.
