On October 29, 2013, Brown University students and Providence community members from groups Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE) and Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM) protested a controversial lecture on campus. Protestors were outraged by the Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions’ decision to select Raymond “Ray” Kelly, New York City Police Department’s Commissioner, as the speaker for the lecture.[1] Protestors held cardboard signs that read “(RAY)CIST KELLY” and chants such as “Ray Kelly you can’t hide, we charge you with homicide!” were heard. The event was cancelled when protestors in the audience continually silenced Kelly. Despite criticism from President Christina Paxson and Brown community members, Kelly’s silencing was inevitable due to tensions on and off campus.
Although it seems that conflict tensions arose when Kelly was announced as speaker, conflict between the University and student activists actually began after President Paxson’s announcement that Brown would not divest from companies that use coal despite student outcries.[2] This announcement came a day before Director of the Taubman Center, Marrion Orr, informed a protest leader that the lecture would continue as planned regardless of cancellation demands.[3] This decision intensified feelings on campus and provoked students to protest.
Aside from the issues on campus, there were also off-campus issues that provoked students to protest Kelly’s lecture. Promotional materials advertising the lecture did not mention controversial policing strategies such as Stop and Frisk, which is known to perpetuate racial profiling against minorities.[4] Kelly’s lecture was announced two months after a Florida jury acquitted George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin, which combined both off-campus racial tension with on-campus frustrations that climaxed when Kelly was silenced by student protesters.
[1] Committee on the Events of October 29, 2013, Report of the Committee on the Events of October 29, 2013, February 2014, 3.
[2] Christina Paxson, “Coal Divestment Update,” October 27, 2014.
[3] Committee on the Events of October 29, 2013, Report of the Committee on the Events of October 29, 2013, February 2014, 4-5.
[4] Primary Source II: PROACTIVE POLICING