INITIATIVES (THINGS SUNRISE HAS DONE)
The DIRE campaign. DIRE is made up of two parts: Brown's complete dissociation from the fossil fuel industry and improved respect for the Providence community. Through two reports, Dissociate Now and The RESPECT Report, Sunrise Brown outlined the ways in which Brown is an agent of environmental injustice, both through its ties to the fossil fuel industry and in its extractive relationship with Providence.
Dissociation was the main focus of this campaign, with a strong emphasis on fossil free research. Fossil free research (or FFR) has become an international cause, with students around the world urging their universities to stop accepting fossil fuel money in research grants in order to delegitimize the fossil fuel industry in the academic world. For Sunrise Brown, this effort is on pause due to the threat of federal funding cuts under the Trump administration. While we believe that FFR is more important than ever, our faculty allies have urged us to put this campaign on pause in order to win.
For more information on DIRE, read our reports below.
College Climate Gathering. In 2023, Sunrise Brown hosted the College Climate Gathering– a massive summit where 142 students from 45 universities learned how to organize for climate justice on their home campuses. The CCG provided nearly $11,000 in travel funding to attendees, and housing was provided at no cost to 92 attendees.
At the time of the event, the CCG was the largest American youth climate organizing summit in four years.​Following a huge loss in on-campus climate activism during the COVID shutdown, students on college campuses began to slowly pick up the pieces. But many campuses had lost a colossal amount of institutional knowledge when previous leaders graduated. The gathering served to fill this gap and start something new. By building skills and forging new connections across, CCG organizers aimed to jump-start the movement for climate justice on our campuses.
The CCG Report is a comprehensive review of how the CCG was put on, from fundraising to curriculum design to attendee housing. It's designed for use by future organizers of large events at campuses across the country. Please feel free to use it and share it widely.
Since 2023, the Campus Climate Network (an international coalition of college climate student organizations) has hosted CCG West and CCG South, further connecting and educating organizers across the country.
Divestment from the Genocide in Gaza. During the 2023-2024 school year, Sunrise Brown was heavily involved in pro-Palestine activism. As a member of the Brown Divest Coalition with many other student organizations, Sunrise called upon Brown to divest from companies aiding and profiting of of the genocide of the Palestinian people. Alongside other groups, Sunrise members participated in sit-ins, a hunger strike, and an encampment to demand that Brown's President bring divestment to a vote at a meeting of the Brown Corporation. In spring 2024, Paxson agreed to do so, demonstrating the power of student organizing.
In the fall of 2024, members of the Brown Divest Coalition presented the case for divestment to ACURM (Advisory Committee on University Resource Management; a committee advising President Paxson about decisions relating to University finances). In October, President Paxson released ACURM's report (their recommendation based on pro- and anti-divestment presentations) and the decision of a Corporation vote, both of which were against divestment.
While this decision has slowed immediate action towards divestment at the University level, Sunrise Brown still strongly supports Palestinian liberation and will continue to uplift student movements to end apartheid. Additionally, this fight for divestment has highlighted the undemocratic nature of Brown University decision-making structures, leading many students to look towards democratizing the university.
Payment in Lieu of Taxes campaign. Because of its status as a nonprofit, Brown isn't required by the city of Providence to pay property taxes, but instead offers PILOTs (Payments in Lieu of Taxes) as a "gift" to the city. Framed as a generous act by Brown, Brown's PILOT agreement allows the university to pay billions less than it otherwise would. This is one facet of Brown's extraction from Providence, and its impacts are felt in city-funded areas such as Providence public schools. In 2023, the PILOT agreement was up for negotiation, and Sunrise Brown among many other activist organizations organized a rapid response for Brown to pay their fair share. As an extremely wealthy institution, we believe that it is Brown's responsibility to pay up, just like every other resident of Providence.
Students weren't able to change the PILOT agreement this time, but we made our voices heard and educated each other about Brown's impacts and responsibilities towards the city of Providence.