Last Friday, I represented Mountain Justice at the Administration’s public forum on divestment, and, to put it bluntly, it was a disappointment. Not only did the school allow us only one student representative when there were three from the administration, they repeatedly danced around questions, refusing to give concrete answers.
Harvard Management Company’s head of natural resources Colin Butterfield said that Harvard is “pausing” investments in some fossil fuels at a Business School event Monday. During the discussion on the effects of climate change on investments, Butterfield said that Harvard’s natural resources portfolio will not likely invest in the fossil fuel industry in the future because those funds do not perform that well financially.
More than 30 Swarthmore College students staged a sit-in Monday morning to demand that the Delaware County school divest of the fossil fuel stocks it holds in its endowment. The school’s Mountain Justice group staged a sit-in at 9:15 a.m.
Students and faculty at Swarthmore College staged a sit-in in the president’s office to protest the college’s investment in fossil fuels. – Mari A. Schaefer, Philadelphia Inquirer
Over 25 students and faculty are beginning a sit-in in President Smith's office to demand that the administration stop hiding behind the 1991 ban and that President Smith give legitimate answers to the questions posed at Friday's forum. Will you join us?
Posted by Sunrise Movement Swarthmore on Monday, April 24, 2017
Originally posted by Sunrise Swarthmore on Facebook
Archival Link via Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine
Press Release: Swarthmore College Faculty Divestment Resolution 3-24-17
As alumni of the College, we were disappointed to learn that last week, nearly a month after a February 24 sit-in during the Board of Managers’ meeting on campus, you sent an email to five members of Swarthmore Mountain Justice (MJ), threatening to fine them and/or place them on probation for their participation in the sit-in.
Last night, Board of Managers Chair Tom Cock ’78 announced that Swarthmore’s entire endowment will take a position at the University of Denver. The departure follows three Swarthmore administrators, including President Rebecca Chopp, switching to U. Denver in the past three years.
This past Friday, all 5 MJ students targeted by the administration were found guilty for their participation in the sit-in to protest the Board’s refusal to engage with the student divestment referendum simply because it would use the endowment for a social purpose.
Swarthmore College has long been noted for their commitment to social justice and peaceful protest. Now some students feel that core campus value is under attack after five students at the Delaware County-based school were cited following a February sit-in at the office of Chief Investment Officer Mark C.