This article describes the little-reported on success that Brown University had in disbanding student protest… by conceding to let activists present a case for divestment at an upcoming hearing before the university’s investment board.
There’s a lot of interesting considerations. The university did not agree to drop charges against forty students for rule violations, but the charged students themselves voted to accept the agreement under the belief that the overall offer was worth their own sacrifices.
Overall, I personally think this shows the irresponsibly unreported fact that negotiation with a protest IS an option that can serve the interests of both sides far better than state violence.
Its true that the witholding of a couple bucks coming from brown university wouldnt do anything directly by itself. However it would still be a big political statement that would make for a decent political wakeup call, if coupled with dozens of other universities and entities doing the same.
So while this one protest by itself is not a huge loss, what it stands for is peoples willingness to watch people die, doing nothing until after its too late.