Brown Puts Protestors on Probation

After nearly a week of deliberation, Brown University this week placed 20 students--including Amy Carter, the daughter of the former president--on probation for their participation in a February divestment protest that disrupted a university corporation meeting.

The University Council of Student Affairs (UCSA), the campus disciplinary body composed of students, deans, and faculty, announced its decision in a Wednesday press conference, nearly a week after a 12-hour hearing where the protestors testified.

The decision is the lightest one that the UCSA can give, short of finding the students innocent. Being on probation will not affect the students' permanent records unless they commit further infractions this semester.

The students were found guilty of one of the two offenses with which they were charged. "The protest action by Students Against Aparthied (SAA) represented an unacceptable form of projection of the views of one group upon the other," stated the UCSA in its news conference.

However, the students were found innocent of the second charge brought against them, that of participating in behavior that "causes or can be reasonably expected to cause physical harm," the group stated.

The UCSA stated that the second charge was inappropriate because it had "a character of violence, personal belligerence or physical coercion that was not present in this case."

The 20 students were among approximately 45 demonstraters who disrupted the February 13 meeting of the university corporation. The students entered the room where the meeting was being held and demanded that the divestment issue be placed on the meeting's agenda, forcing the meeting to be moved to another location.

The students charged were those who voluntarily signed a sheet of paper that Dean of Student Life John M. Robinson presented to them at the disrupted meeting.

The protestors, who could have been expelled or suspended, said they were relieved by the light punishment.

"I feel happy, great," said sophomore Paige S. Cox, adding that the activists regarded the decision as a success. "If even one of us had gotten suspended it would have been a loss. We were in it together," she said.

The students will not appeal the decision, said senior Rebecca M. Zeigler, a spokesman for the protestors.

The university will put letters into the files of the 20 students and will send their parents notification of their probation.

If any of the students violate their probations, "it's a likelihood that they would be suspended or expelled," said Michael S. Silvestri, managing editor of The Brown Daily Herald.

The charged students said they think the case represents a victory for student activism at Brown. Cox said she felt the leniency of the decision was partly due to the strong campus support for the protestors.

"It's made students feel a little more in power, like they can affect university policy," she said.