Why Divestment Is At the Core of Student Protests

While news coverage has been justifiably focused on the aggressive police response to anti-war college protests at campuses around the country, it’s noteworthy that a handful of U.S. schools have agreed to come to the table with students and discuss their demands. At the top of the list for many campus activists: divestment. 

At Brown University, where protests against Israel’s war have been occurring since the fall of 2023, students want the administration to cut ties with companies that do business with Israel’s occupied territories. As student negotiator Isabella Garo explains, it’s less about hurting the companies financially and more about being a moral model for academic institutions, large and small. In this episode, Garo joins host Kai Wright to talk about taking on her university over a contentious issue, and where she sees the role of Brown Divest in the larger Free Palestine movement. Click here to read a statement from a Brown University spokesperson about why the school agreed to negotiate with students and take a vote on the issue of divestment in October 2024.

Then, Kai discusses how the current calls for divestment echo previous student-led protest movements on campuses with Chris Marsicano, assistant professor of educational studies at Davidson College. Marsicano breaks down the history of university divestment and why it can be a complicated ask, particularly at state schools and elite colleges.

Companion listening for this episode:

A Palestinian-American Victim Of American Gun Violence Becomes A Reluctant Poster Child (2/19/2024)

Brown University student Hisham Awartani processes his injuries, and the trauma of his community back home in the West Bank.

Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.

Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.