Supporters of Palestine, Israel protest at Brown commencement

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Opposing protests in support of Palestine and Israel were present at Brown University’s commencement ceremony Sunday.

Brown Alumni for Palestine said it led a “disruption” which showed support for student leaders of the Palestine Solidarity Encampment and called on President Christina Paxson and the Brown Corporation to divest from “companies complicit with the genocide in Palestine.”

The group added it represents over 2,000 alumni who have pledged to not donate to the university until it divests.

Brown Alumni for Palestine held a pro-Palestinian protest at the university’s commencement ceremony on May 26, 2024. (Brown Alumni for Palestine)

I’m here because as an alumni and resident of Providence, I can’t stand seeing Brown University use its endowment to perpetuate the genocide in Gaza,” Addy Schuetz of the Class of 2019 said. “Alumni and students will not stop organizing until President Paxson and the corporation divest from the genocide in Palestine.”

Meanwhile, a protest organized by the Rhode Island Coalition for Israel which it said included university parents, students, and alumni included supporters waving American and Israeli flags outside the ceremony as well as a sky banner supporting Israel and the US-Israel alliance towed by a plane.

A plane supporting the U.S.-Israeli alliance organized by the Rhode Island Coalition for Israel. (WLNE)

RICI also released the following statement about the protest:

In response to months of disruptive, anti-Semitic and harassing behavior targeting Jewish and pro-Israel students on campus at Brown, a large group of Brown University students, parents and alumni, together with off-campus community support from Rhode Island Coalition for Israel, plan to gather in solidarity and show their support for Israel, America, and Jewish life on campus this Commencement Weekend. In contrast to the hateful and troubling scenes expressed by pro-Hamas groups, the pro-Israel community will proudly display Israeli and American flags, yellow ribbons and other signs of outward and positive support for Israel, America and the 132 hostages, including five Americans, who have been forcibly held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza for over 230 days.

A spokesperson for Brown University released the following statement on the protests:

Amid a time of extraordinary geopolitical conflict nationally and globally, Brown, like many colleges and universities, experienced community members engaged in various forms of expression during its Commencement and Reunion Weekend. Other than some brief interruptions of a few minutes to our College Ceremony on Sunday because of noise from a small group of protestors, all events proceeded as planned. Before the University Ceremony, another group of protestors who seemed mostly unaffiliated with Brown chanted in one corner of the College Green for a few minutes before the program began, but they were escorted off the green and did not disrupt the event. What is most important is that the tens of thousands of people who were on College Hill over the past few days had a truly joyful and exciting weekend, celebrating the amazing achievements of our undergraduate, graduate, and medical and professional students, as well as the reunions of Brown alumni. This was our primary goal.