This page resurrects and extends an archive of news coverage, social media, and announcements since 2014 related to the Swatdivest, Sunrise Movement, and Swarthmore Mountain Justice. As we work to reorganize and migrate the data to this site, please bear with us. This is a work in progress.
Thank you to everyone who attended our Day of Dedication today and built our #ClimateLegacy! We had over 70 people come and many letters and objects sealed!
If you weren’t able to make it or if you want to know what’s coming next, sign up for our ‘Next Steps’ call on Monday at 8 —-> bit.ly/sunrisenov20
BREAKING: President Smith has again declined the opportunity to endorse divestment as part of a multi-faceted approach to stop climate change and ensure an equitable and just future for all of us. Join us today to show that, while President Smith and the Board of Managers have refused to stand with the will of a majority of faculty and students, we will forge on. We will build our movement beyond campus to fight against corrupt politicians that line the pockets of fossil fuel executives, and in doing so elect real leaders that will ensure a livable and prosperous future for all of us.
We know that in a future where we transition to renewable energy to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs, divesting from fossil fuels and reinvesting in renewable energy is the right decision, both financially and morally. This afternoon, we will memorialize President Smith’s disappointing decision to bet on the profitability of the fossil fuel industry over the wellbeing of the students of Swarthmore. We will be burying objects that represent what we love and have to lose to climate change. We will build our movement so that, when the time capsule is opened in 2067, we know we will have done everything in our power to preserve a livable planet for our communities.
Stand with us against corrupt politicians and dirty investments as we gather at 3pm outside of City Hall. Join us in showing President Smith the power and passion of true Swarthmore climate leaders: fight when she will not.
One might think this is a risky approach for an under-resourced college. But since verifying in 2011 that the college is divested from fossil fuels, our average five-year investment returns have performed better (6.4%) than the average return of the more than 800 colleges tracked by both NACUBO Commonfund Study (5.4%) and Bloomberg Endowment Index (4.5%).
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.
BREAKING: This morning, 30 students and faculty began a sit-in to demand the administration and Board stop hiding behind their 1991 Ban on taking any social concerns into account when managing the endowment. Instead of following the leadership of students, faculty, and alumni, President Smith and the Board have used this ban as an excuse to…
The SGO forum on divestment last Friday appears to have produced more tension than dialogue. This Over the course of the past month, Swarthmore Mountain Justice has increased its visibility in the Last Thursday, Bill McKibben, founder of the nationally recognized environmental group 350.org, spoke at a Swarthmore
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.