A Jewish Brown University board member, Joseph Edelman, who joined the board of trustees in 2019, announced on Sunday that he was stepping down in opposition to an impending vote on divesting from Israel-linked companies, expressing his disapproval of the university’s approach to growing antisemitism on campus.
Edelman, 69, founder and CEO of Perceptive Advisors, shared his views in an edited version of his resignation letter in the Wall Street Journal, describing the university’s decision to hold the divestment vote as “morally reprehensible.”
Titled, “Why I Am Resigning as a Brown Trustee,” Edelman’s letter said:
“I find it morally reprehensible that holding a divestment vote was even considered, much less that it will be held—especially in the wake of the deadliest assault on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. On Oct. 7, 2023, Israel was invaded and brutally attacked by Palestinian terrorists.
“Twelve hundred innocent people were slaughtered, some of them raped and burned alive, and more than 250 were abducted to Gaza and held as hostages. Israel, like all nations, has a moral duty to defend its citizens from terrorist attacks, and that is exactly what it has been doing. It is revealing that of all the countries in the world, only Israel is expected to restrain itself because of the civilian lives that will tragically be lost in war.”
Pro-Hamas student organizations at Brown University have been pushing for the divestment vote, a move that comes in the wake of widespread campus demonstrations at Brown and other US institutions earlier this year.
An agreement reached in April to dismantle a protest camp on Brown’s lawn led to the formation of a committee comprising students, faculty, and alumni. This group is tasked with formulating divestment recommendations, which will be put to a vote by Brown’s board of trustees in October. The board is chaired by Brian Moynihan, who also serves as the CEO of Bank of America Corp.
Brown University demonstrators celebrated and hugged one another as they dismantled their encampment after striking a deal with university officials to bring their divestment demands to a vote in October pic.twitter.com/rTIWyOOCKL
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 1, 2024
In late August, a coalition of attorneys general from 24 states issued a stern warning to Brown University that such a move could result in financial consequences for the institution. The attorneys general from Arkansas, Florida, Texas, and 21 other states said in a letter to Brown University trustees that adopting the BDS proposal “may require our states — and others — to terminate any existing relationships with Brown and those associated with it, divest from any university debt held by state pension plans and other investment vehicles, and otherwise refrain from engaging with Brown.”
Edelman concluded his letter to the WSJ:
How can Brown lend credence to these antisemitic voices, who notably began protesting in support of violence against Jews before Israel had even responded to the Oct. 7 attack? It’s as if the Brown board has agreed to vote on whether Israel has a right to defend itself, whether Israel has a right to exist, and even whether Jews have a right to exist.
I consider the willingness to hold this vote a stunning failure of moral leadership at Brown University. I am unwilling to lend my name or give my time to a body that lacks basic moral judgment. I hereby resign from the board of trustees.
Edelman is married to Susan “Suzy” Lebovitz-Edelman, who is co-chair of the Edelman Family Foundation. They live in an 18,000-square-foot, $70 million oceanfront mansion in Laguna Beach, California.
