One of Brown University’s biggest donors, billionaire real estate mogul Barry Sternlicht, sharply criticized Friday the school’s agreement to hold a board vote on cutting investments tied to Israel. He described this as “unconscionable” and said he had “paused” donations to the school. .
Brown is among a few universities that have agreed to talk about their investments in companies doing business in Israel to persuade student protesters to disband their camps. Mr. Sternlicht said in a scathing email to The New York Times that he copied to Brown President Christina H. Paxson that the agreement amounted to sympathy for Hamas, which attacked Israel last October, and described students who opposed it Israel’s actions in Gaza were protested as “ignorant”.
“There should never be a vote when people lack the facts. It’s not education, it’s propaganda,” he wrote.
Mr. Sternlicht, 63, said no agreement with the protesters could be fruitful because both sides lacked “facts and moral clarity” as well as the extent of Israel’s invasion of Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attack in which There were around 1,200 people, some were killed and another 250 taken hostage. Israel’s subsequent intensive bombing of the densely populated area claimed more than 34,000 lives and sparked international condemnation.
He pointed to the hundreds of thousands of civilians killed in the wars in Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq and asked: “Where were the protests?”
“When it comes to war, Israel has been fairly reserved,” Mr. Sternlicht wrote.
The setback from Mr. Sternlicht, who has described himself as politically independent and whose name is on a Brown dorm, shows how quickly the issue of divestment from Israel can anger universities. Until a week ago, discussing the issue was widely considered unrealistic because it would certainly separate a large group of students and faculty from the many business people whose donations bolster university endowments.
Now the issue is on the table. The University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Rutgers University have also agreed to discuss their investments to end the protests, while activists elsewhere have added divestment from Israel to their lists of demands. No university has taken concrete measures to reduce stocks and this is ultimately considered unlikely.
Mr. Sternlicht’s note represented the broadside from a donor that universities have feared for months after attacks from prominent supporters previously helped bring down two Ivy League presidents. In his letter, he copied a number of influential business leaders and university donors, including Marc Rowan, the private equity boss who led a successful campaign to oust the president of the University of Pennsylvania last year.
Dr. Paxson referred a request for comment to a spokesperson for Brown, who declined to comment directly and instead sent a statement that said in part: “There are few issues as contentious and deeply felt like those that concern Israel.”
A leader of Brown’s protests previously said the group expected backlash from donors, but that it was unlikely to carry any weight.
Mr. Sternlicht, one of the best-known names in real estate, is chairman and chief executive of Starwood Capital Group, a developer of luxury shopping centers, homes and hotels that once owned the Sheraton, W and Westin hotel brands, among others.
Brown regularly raves about the large donations of Mr. Sternlicht and his former wife — also a graduate of the university — and previously served two terms as a trustee of the Brown Corporation, the school’s governing board. Mr. Sternlicht, a Miami resident, supports Jewish and Israeli charities and spoke about his father’s experiences fleeing Poland from the Holocaust. By his count, he has donated more than $20 million to Brown, but said Friday that he would not donate anymore for now.
It’s been a turbulent week at colleges across the country, which have faced widespread student protests over the war in Gaza. Brown, like others, saw a pro-Palestinian camp stretching across the main lawn.
However, unlike some others, the Brown administration quickly negotiated a way out. Their deal: to hold a corporate vote this fall on whether the $6.6 billion Brown Foundation should divest itself of all Israel-related holdings. The vote follows a meeting this month between a small group of student activists and company members.
Although several Brown donors had previously said they did not expect the vote to be successful and that they were happy to see the campus calm down, the very prospect of a withdrawal from Israel was alarming to some. Dr. Paxson rejected such efforts as recently as 2020, saying the foundation was “not a political tool.”
Mr. Sternlicht had clear words in his letter to Dr. Paxson, suggesting that she should be more critical of Hamas and be willing to oust professors who engaged in hate speech.
As for the protesters who were at the Quadrangle earlier, Mr. Sternlicht wrote that students who “feel that Hamas is noble” should leave Brown.
“I don’t know much about you,” he added, “but I didn’t go to school with a tent.”
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2024-05-04 00:54:51
www.nytimes.com
