Brown University’s top donor, real estate entrepreneur Barry Sternlicht, has announced that he will withdraw financial support from the university due to the administration’s willingness to discuss joining an academic boycott of Israel. This decision comes as The University of Rhode Island becomes the first higher education institution in the United States to consider such a move. The board of governors at URI will meet in June to make the final decision.
At URI, students have been camping out on campus since February, demanding that the university take a stand against Israel. After months of protests and demonstrations, the university has finally agreed to consider an academic boycott of Israel. However, under one condition: students must dismantle their encampment and refrain from violating university codes for the remainder of the academic year.
Christina Paxson, president of Brown University, issued a statement saying that the decision was made as part of an agreement reached with the students. While she did not explicitly state whether or not Brown would be joining the boycott, she did express her support for free speech and academic freedom at all universities.
Barry Sternlicht, whose fortune exceeds three billion dollars, expressed his disappointment with this decision. He believes that when people ignore facts, there should be no discussion. He views this move as propaganda rather than education and has criticized it as unconscionable.
