RISD President Says Protesters' Actions "Undefendable"

RISD President Says Protesters' Actions "Undefendable"

The president of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) has called the action of pro-Palestine protesters occupying a school building “undefendable” — and has said she will only “continue to advocate for them to gain an audience with the Board of Trustees investment committee” if they vacate the school building and agree not to disrupt commencement. 

Moreover, RISD President Crystal Williams said the college will not agree to allow students to have oversight over the school’s investments. Rather, she said the school will only agree to provide “greater transparency.”

It marks the latest in local pro-Palestine college protests in Rhode Island. 

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 At Brown University, school officials negotiated an end to the protest that would allow students to present their demands to the Corporation, calling specifically for divestment from pro-Israeli holdings. 

In response, a billionaire donor to Brown University said he is pausing his giving — due to the Ivy League institution’s deal with pro-Palestinian protesters. 

 

Latest at RISD

As GoLocal reported, protesting RISD students first took over Washington Place on Monday. The building houses academic affairs, the general counsel’s office, the President’s and Provost’s offices, and student financial services,

Late on Tuesday, RISD President Williams issued a 2500-word letter to the community, outlining protesters' actions and demands — and RISD’s response. 

“A subset of RSJP students (RISD Students for Justice in Palestine) preemptively decided to escalate and occupy an active academic space last night, impeding access to all students who use those classroom and studio spaces. The occupation negatively impacts many students and breaches trust, goodwill, and our collective commitment to education. Students are here to learn art and design. Artists and designers, as stated above, are imperative. Regardless of one's views or the fortitude of one's beliefs, to impede the right of another to study, learn, and pursue education at RISD is undefendable,” wrote Williams. 

Williams noted that the students are following other protests around the country. 

“And then again today, just after 3:30 pm, we received an email from the students occupying the second floor of 20 Washington Place preemptively rejecting any offer from us (We had not yet sent our response to them, which is now delivered via this campus-wide message). This follows the national playbook from Students for Justice in Palestine and is disappointing. We had hoped that RISD students would operate differently—in good faith, respectfully, and with the ideals of mutual compromise, collaboration, and resolution guiding them in the vein of the lauded activists they so frequently name,” said Williams. 

“While I have been in conversation with members of RISD's Board of Trustees regarding RSJP demands, until RSJP students vacate academic spaces, no longer impede the rights of others, and agree not to disrupt Commencement, I will not continue to advocate for them to gain an audience with the Board of Trustees investment committee. If RJSP students vacate academic spaces and agree to not disrupt Commencement, my discussions with the Board on their behalf will continue. I welcome them into a productive conversation about moving this potentiality forward,” said Williams. 

“The Board's role as fiduciaries of the institution is to protect our principal assets, ensure RISD is structurally and financially sound now, and ensure the institution exists in perpetuity,” added Williams. “Trustees with decades of experience and expertise in financial matters oversee RISD's complex $420 million endowment and how those funds are invested. We cannot cede oversight to students, nor would it be responsible to do so.”

"There are several goals that we may be able to address which undergird student requests," said Williams, which she said are “to provide greater transparency and promote more understanding, we propose to host an annual presentation and conversation with Senior Vice President David Rosati about RISD's finances and investments (much like the recent financial transparency presentations hosted for faculty and staff). We believe this will provide greater transparency into the institution's current budget, financial decisions, investment posture, and outcomes and provide students with an opportunity to discuss their concerns, questions, and interests with the senior leader who works most closely with the Board's Investment Committee and serves as the Committee's primary administrative conduit.”

“We are further open to exploring with students other means of engagement that would be helpful, meaningful, and actionable,” she added.