Twenty-Four State AGs Tell Brown University to Reject Proposal to Divest From Israel

Twenty-Four State AGs Tell Brown University to Reject Proposal to Divest From Israel

The school could face legal consequences if they go through with this.

The Brown Daily Herald reports:

Twenty-four state attorneys general urge Brown Corporation to reject divestment proposal

Twenty-four state attorneys general are urging Brown to reject a proposal to divest from companies with ties to Israel, they wrote in a letter addressed to University officials Monday.

The signatories were all Republican attorneys general and did not include Rhode Island’s attorney general. The letter was addressed to President Christina Paxson P’19 MD’20 and the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, which is expected to vote on such a proposal in October.

University Spokesperson Brian Clark wrote in an email to The Herald that the University does not plan to comment as they “await formal receipt of the letter.”

Brown and other universities have received significant national attention, especially from Republican elected officials, since protests erupted on their campuses over the war in Gaza and divestment from Israel. This letter is an early indication of the national scrutiny that is likely to surround the Corporation’s vote on divestment in October.

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin authored the letter, which described the divestment proposal put forth by the student group Brown Divest Coalition as “antisemitic and unlawful.” Adopting the proposal, the letter says, may trigger anti-boycott laws that would prohibit the states from doing business with Brown.

According to the Jewish Virtual Library, 38 U.S. states have adopted some law that prohibits their state from awarding contracts, investing or doing business with companies engaged in a boycott of Israel.

The letter also warned that states are already reviewing their investments and contracts to determine if Brown “has already violated state law” by agreeing to bring the proposal to a vote.

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