Yesterday, after RISD President Crystal Williams told students their barricades were a fire hazard and sent in facilities managers and Department of Public Safety security officers to break them down, the students say they made the voluntary decision to leave the building and were escorted out by their supporters.
Luca Antonio Colannino, a spokesperson for the student group behind the sit in, RISD Students for Justice in Palestine, said the students also exited the building minutes before receiving a letter from the president threatening their expulsion if they did not vacate the second floor of the building and restore it to its original state.
During the course of the occupation, which began Monday, students painted murals on the inside of the building, including an image of Fathi Ghaben, a Palestinian artist who died in Gaza in February after being unable to receive medical treatment due to Israel’s invasion of local hospitals. Students had temporarily renamed the building Fathi Ghaben Place.
The students left the building without their demands being met. The group had four demands. They were asking their president to be more transparent about the school’s financial investments, and to divest from companies with ties to Israel. They also wanted Williams to allow students to oversee future investments. And finally, they asked her to publicly condemn Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocidal.
At one point during negotiations, students say Williams had made a counter-offer, saying if students left the building, she would clarify finances and discuss RISD’s relationship with its neighbor in downtown Providence, weapons manufacturer Textron, and that annually RISD would hold a public forum about its investments. RISD accepts funding from a trust set up by Textron’s founder, and students want Williams to commit to not partner with the company in the future.
Asked if students regretted not accepting the deal while it was on the table, Colannino said no.
“As an individual, I’m committed to all the demands in that and to the power of that statement, symbolic and financially. I still believe in us to continue pushing for them to do that,” he said.
In a letter to students, Williams also said she would not refuse a future partnership with Textron, as students have requested.
“In taking the long view, we cannot support this request,” she said.
Williams also said she would not suspend funding from the Rayon Foundation Trust, a trust created by Textron Founder Royal Little. She stated that the Rayon Trust was created prior to Textron becoming the weapons manufacturer it is today, and its funds are unrelated to the current company. She added: “Suspending all funding from the Rayon Foundation Trust would significantly negatively impact the academic program and student financial aid.”
Colannino said students will adhere to the school’s ask that they clean up the inside of the building and restore it to its pre-occupation state. He also said protests will continue outside the Prov-Wash building on Friday.
“As the art on the inside will be covered up, we’re focusing on remaking it on the outside to really implicate our own skills and position as artists, and continuing to build a movement,” he said Friday. “That’s today’s task, and then we’ll reassess after today.”