Joseph Edelman, a trustee of Brown University’s governing body, the Brown Corporation, has resigned amid growing tensions surrounding the university’s upcoming divestment vote on Israel. Edelman, who joined the board in 2019, announced his departure in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, citing concerns over rising antisemitism and the university’s decision to hold a vote on whether to divest from companies connected to Israel.
Edelman expressed his disapproval of the vote, which is scheduled for October, noting that it was particularly troubling in light of the recent attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7. He lambasted the divestment decision and argued that it signaled a dangerous shift in the university’s stance on global issues and antisemitism.
“I find it morally reprehensible that holding a divestment vote was even considered, much less that it will be held — especially in the wake of the deadliest assault on the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Edelman wrote in the Wall Street Journal op-ed. “Israel, like all nations, has a moral duty to defend its citizens from terrorist attacks, and that is exactly what it has been doing.”
The divestment vote is part of an agreement reached last semester between Brown’s administration and student protesters, who had camped out on campus demanding that the university divest from companies with financial ties to Israeli forces. In exchange for dismantling their protest encampment, the university agreed to hold the vote this fall.
Brian Clark, the university’s spokesperson, responded to Edelman’s resignation, stating that the divestment vote follows a long-established process for evaluating claims that challenge the institution’s moral responsibility. Clark told the Brown Daily Herald that the vote is not a direct result of recent protests but part of a nearly 50-year-old protocol that allows any university member to propose divestment for consideration.
“Our process allows any university community member to submit a divestment proposal for examination, and does not pre-determine the merit or outcome,” Clark wrote in an email to the Brown Daily Herald.
As the vote approaches, both pro- and anti-divestment groups at Brown are preparing their cases, which will be presented to the Advisory Committee on University Resources Management. This committee will make a recommendation on whether the university should move forward with divestment.
