SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD VOLUME CLXI, ISSUE 3
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6
Hundreds in Providence rally against ICE activity
JAKE PARKER / HERALD
College Hill community members joined protesters at the R.I. State House
On Friday, over 1,000 demonstrators rallied in Providence as part of a nationwide day of protest against recent escalations in federal immigration enforcement in
Minneapolis — including the deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of immigration officials earlier this month. At Brown, students and community members gathered on the steps of the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library at 1 p.m. as part of a student walkout. In sub-freezing temperatures, organizers led around 1,000 protesters in chants, yelling “All unite for immigrants’ rights” and “ICE is not welcome here.” In an attempt at “shutting down business as usual,” student leaders called on the College Hill community to join the
walkout rather than attend class on Friday afternoon, said Brown Rise Up Co-President Simon Aron ’28. The walkout was organized by a coalition of activist groups, including BRU, Sunrise Brown, the Deportation Defense Network and the R.I. Student Climate Coalition. Dakota Pippins ’29, a spokesperson for Brown Rise Up, told The Herald that the activist groups held the student walkout to call for the end of “ICE brutality across the nation” and the “ever-increasing authoritarian takeover of the government by the Trump administration.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Friday’s rallies come in the wake of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti on Jan. 24. Pretti was the second person to be killed by immigration officials in Minneapolis this month, following the shooting of Renee Good on Jan. 7. In a speech to the crowd, Laurence Nunes ’27 spoke on behalf of fraternity Beta Omega Chi and condemned the murders of Pretti and Good as “the latest in a long series of attempts to quell the flames of the masses.”
“They want to use their violence to scare us into silence, into inaction,” he said in his speech. “But we know that our power to shut down our schools, our power to shut down our cities, will always be greater than them.” Over the past several months, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been active in Providence. In November and September, individuals were detained on College Hill. Two weeks ago, several agents breached security at Garrahy
UNIVERSITY NEWS
METRO
SPORTS
OPINIONS
SCIENCE & RESEARCH
Women’s ice hockey overcomes early stumble to rout Union, Rensselaer
Lair ’28: Gay Brunonians shouldn’t abandon the queer community
Federal rule change requires open access to research papers
SEE ICE HOCKEY PAGE 6
SEE LAIR PAGE 10
SEE RESEARCH PAGE 14
BY ZARINA HAMILTON AND MICHELLE BI UNIVERSITY NEWS AND METRO EDITORS
Brown ranks No. 2 nationally for 2025–26 Fulbright recipients SEE SCHOLARSHIP PAGE 3
Man stabbed on Thayer Street, suspect taken into custody SEE CRIME PAGE 4
SEE PROTEST PAGE 4
GRANTS
Brown contributes $3M in grants to Rhode Island workforce Grants awarded as part of Brown's agreement with the federal government BY ROMA SHAH UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR On Jan. 29, the University announced it awarded $1.5 million each in grants to the Community College of Rhode Island and Building Futures — an apprenticeship program that supports low-income workers with finding employment. The announcement marks Brown’s “first public step” toward fulfilling its commitment to invest $50 million in state workforce development as part of its agreement with the federal government, according to a University press release. In April 2025, the Trump administration announced plans to freeze $510 million in
post- Magazine
federal funding to the University. In July, Brown reached a deal with the federal government that restored some of the University’s research funding and halted the Trump administration’s investigation into antisemitism allegations on campus. In exchange, the University pledged to distribute $50 million over 10 years to promote Rhode Island workforce development. To comply with the agreement, the University plans to award more grants over the next decade through a review process led by Brown’s Office of Community Engagement. Anchor grants of up to $1.5 million will be awarded to “established workforce development initiatives,” while innovation grants of up to $200,000 will be given to “new ideas and pioneering programs,” according to a University press release. The grant given to CCRI will help launch Providence’s first bilingual credential program “to expand the number of early child-
hood educators in the Providence Public School District” by up to 180 teachers over the next three years. The college plans to enroll five cohorts of new students in the program, the press release reads. The bilingual credential program requires no previous college experience, and the PPSD has committed to hiring graduates of the program to fulfill the city’s need for early childhood educators and teaching assistants. The funding will also provide over $1 million in scholarships and support like language tutoring, mentorship and transportation to help eliminate barriers standing in the way of program completion for “low-income, multilingual and first-generation college students,” according to the press release. Building Future’s $1.5 million grant will aid the organization in helping over 250 Rhode Islanders find careers through apprenticeships across fields such as healthcare
SEE POST- PAGE 8
and manufacturing. The grant will specifically support “a contractor incentive program; an apprenticeship readiness program for incarcerated individuals to support community reintegration and careers in the building trades; and partnerships with private employers to create new apprenticeship programs” to expand Building Future’s workforce development across more career sectors, the press release reads. The “contractor incentive program” will encourage contractors to hire Building Futures graduates by offering them the “equivalent to 50% of an apprentice’s wages for up to 400 hours,” according to the press release. It commits to ultimately supporting 120 apprentices into establishing their careers over the next three years. Another new initiative backed by Brown’s grant, Building Futures Inside, will work in partnership with the Rhode Island
Department of Corrections to provide 120 hours of training to incarcerated individuals. After their release from state correctional institutions, inmates will be able to participate in Building Future’s pre-apprenticeship program. The grant funding will also expand the organization’s Apprenticeship Rhode Island initiative, which is led in conjunction with the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training. The program “provides employers with technical assistance to create and implement registered apprenticeship programs in new industries and occupations,” the press release reads. The University plans on awarding three more anchor grants and innovation grants each in 2027.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 2, 2026.
Anti-ICE Protest in Photos
SEE PHOTOS PAGE 16