Brown University endowment grew 11.3% last year as school mulls Israel divestment

Brown University’s endowment saw an 11.3% return on investment for the year that ended in June — ahead a key vote this month in which the Ivy League school’s board of trustees will decide whether to divest from Israel.The endowment, which grew to $7.2 billion, provided the Providence, RI-based university with a record $281 million to its operating budget, according to a statement from Brown released on Friday.The head of the endowment is Brown alum Brian Moynihan, the chief executive officer of Bank of America who raised eyebrows last month when he decided to take on the volunteer position as chancellor of the Corporation of Brown University.The budget, representing 21% of total revenue, helped to pay for financial aid for students as well as salary increases for staffers.The divestment vote, the date of which has not been made public, was a concession from the university’s administration to students who had set up a tent encampment on campus grounds to protest the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.The vote will be held among the board of trustees’ 54-person membership.One of the members, Perceptive Advisors CEO Joseph Edelman, resigned in protest last month, saying that the decision to hold the vote was “morally reprehensible” given what it “suggests about the university’s attitude toward rising antisemitism on campus.” Israel launched military action in Gaza following the Oct.

7, 2023 terrorist attacks by Hamas which claimed the lives of nearly 1,400 soldiers and civilians.Monday marks the one-year anniversary of the massacre.The administration promised the students that there would be a formal vote on the question of divestiture.

In return, the students folded up the tent encampments before graduation ceremonies last spring.Brown was one of several universities that decided to reach a negotiated agreement with student leaders over the campus protests.Other schools such as Columbia, the University of Southern California, Northeastern Univ...