Danielle Perelman photographs of student protests at Brown University (PH.1R.2023.005)

Biographical/Historical Note

Danielle Perelman

Danielle Perelman attended Brown University from 2013-2017 with a focus on multimedia storytelling. During her tenure, Perelman was a photographer for the Brown Alumni Magazine, Brown Daily Herald, and over 30 student organizations and publications at Brown University. Perelman was also a producer for Brown Motion Pictures and Musical Forum, director for Blognonian Photo, and founder of Humans of Brown University, a Facebook group inspired by Humans of New York, that collects stories and quotes from Brown University students.

Brown University Student Protests

Money Talks Brown Protest (March 11, 2015)

On March 11, 2015, over 400 community members from Brown University participated in a silent march to protest the University's response to two female students' allegations of being drugged with gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and one of the two who reported being sexually assaulted at a Phi Kappa Psi party on October 17th, 2015. The protest succeeds another demonstration at a women's leadership roundtable discussion: "Cracking the Glass Ceiling: Women Presidents and the Changing University." 30 students stood silently with dollar bills taped over their mouths with bright-red numerals "IX" in reference to the national Title IX movements.

On January 19th, 2015, a community-wide email announced revoking Phi Kappa Psi's recognition and housing for four years. The University permitted Phi Kappa Psi to petition to shorten the original sanction after mishandled toxicologist and hair test reports were deemed inconclusive. In February of that year, the University dropped charges against the student accused of serving the drink containing GHB citing a lack of physical evidence. In the same month, the University found the student accused of sexual assault not responsible, citing that the complainant's partial memory was insufficient to challenge the accused student's claim of consent. During the March protest, organizers Act4RJ listed ten demands calling for more transparency surrounding the University's decisions. Protesters also voiced concerns that the decision to drop charges was influenced by the accused student's family connections to a Corporation trustee and significant donor to the University.

Blackout Brown (November 12, 2015)

From September to November 2015 Black students at the University of Missouri held multiple protests, "Racism Lives Here" in response to racialized violence, calling for the university to address institutionalized racism on campus. The protests resulted in the resignation of Timothy Wolfe, president of the University of Missouri System. Concurrently in November, Students at Yale University held protests in reaction to racist incidents that occurred at a fraternity Halloween party. On November 12, 2015, Brown University students gathered on the Quiet Green in response to the national movement against institutional racism, Black Lives Matter, and student-led protest at the University of Missouri. Students of color shared personal experiences of racism on and off campus and a list of administrative demands, including the University hiring more faculty members of color, mandatory training on critical race theory for all faculty, and adopting an intersectional framework for Title IX training.

Native Americans at Brown Indigenous Peoples Day Protests (October 12 & 9, 2015)

In April 2009, Brown University faculty voted to rename the holiday that falls on the second Monday in October, referred to at the time as Columbus Day, to the Fall Weekend Holiday. The Indigenous Peoples Day protests followed after a controversy over two racist op-eds published in The Brown Daily Herald. The student protesters called on the University to formally change the name of the holiday to Indigenous People's Day. On October 27, 2015 members of the Native Americans at Brown (NAB) student organization presented a resolution to the Brown University Community Council (BUCC) to change the holiday to Indigenous People's Day. On February 2, 2016, The Faculty Executive Committee and members of the faculty voted to amend the designation from the Fall Weekend holiday to Indigenous People's Day. On October 11, 2021, the Biden administration formally proclaimed Indigenous Peoples' Day a federal holiday.

Campus Walkout (November 16, 2016)

In response to the 2016 United States presidential election results, Brown University students organized and participated in a campus walkout, calling for the University to join the national movement to foster sanctuary campuses; modeled after 'sanctuary cities' to protect undocumented immigrants and marginalized communities. Students also held signs displaying 'NODAPL', referring to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation to stop the construction of a 1,172-mile-long oil pipeline.