I worked with a team of students and our DEI office to bring the Anti-Defamation League’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, to campus. However, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jews for Ceasefire Now (JFCN) booked maybe half the free tickets, and within the first 10 minutes, they made a dramatic exit where they held up protest signs. This was disappointing because many BSI members attend pro-Palestinian talks and do not cause a scene. Instead, we use the time to ask questions.

Brown University's campus saw a contained encampment organized by a group advocating for divestment from Israel. Brown's administration made it very clear that no members from the outside community could participate, although the organizing group did invite some non-Brown-affiliated people to the encampment. A day or so later, the administration decided to negotiate with the student protesters, which resulted in the encampment being removed on the condition that several students could present a case for divestment from Israel at the next board meeting in fall 2024.

Brown RISD Hillel has played a more active role in trying to heal the divides we are seeing in the community, despite receiving death threats from unknown perpetrators. Over spring break, the Hillel traveled to Israel with a group of students who were embarking on a volunteer mission to help repair the broken communities devastated by the war.

The Hillel also hosted Josh Ladon from the Hartman Institute and Resetting the Table. The event was very successful, with many Jews for Ceasefire Now (JCFN) members coming and engaging in the conversation. While the two organizations did not agree on matters, it was nice to have the opportunity to talk about the different perspectives in a comfortable space.

In the spring semester, Brown Students for Israel (BSI), with the support of Chabad at Brown and Brown-RISD Hillel, prepared a Passover-Seder installation on the Quiet Green quad, honoring each of the approximately 130 hostages currently being held hostage in Gaza. The monument featured two long dinner tables adorned with chairs and plates, with each place setting symbolizing "an empty seat at a Passover Seder table that should be occupied by a hostage," according to a statement delivered by the BSI. Organizers also adorned the installment with each of the hostages' pictures, as well as teddy bears to represent the child captives and flowers as symbols of hope for their imminent return.

In the Fall 2023 semester, members of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Jews for Ceasefire Now (JFCN) organizations held a hunger strike in response to the Brown University board meeting in February to pressure the board to divest. Brown President Christina Paxson asked students to submit a detailed report for review after rejecting their previous one because it was not detailed enough. From my understanding, the expanded report was rejected once again and was not brought forward to the board.

The 41 students who were arrested in fall 2023 used the incident to paint Brown University as anti-First Amendment by denying them their rights to free speech when, in reality, they were arrested for trespassing (not for their protesting). These students were on probation until pardoned by a judge.

In the spring semester, Brown RISD Hillel's Rabbi Josh Bolton, the executive director of the center, and Molly Goldmeier, Hillel's assistant director, were emailed anonymous death threats. Rodney Chatman, the Vice President for Public Safety and Emergency Management, confirmed in an email that there was “no evidence of any on-site threat” found after officers conducted a safety assessment of the Weiner Center, the building where Hillel is located.

We hosted Lauder Fellow Shay Rubenstein, who came all the way from Israel, at one of our Brown Students for Israel meetings, with a turnout of 20 to 30 students.

It was great to have an Israeli come and speak to us about his experience and have a very engaging Q&A.