Board of Trustees Chairman Jeff Sine committed to looking into divestment of fossil fuels at an open forum in the Ward Circle Building on April 4.
Members of Fossil Free AU questioned President Neil Kerwin and Sine about divestment at the event. Students in Fossil Free AU attended the event wearing bright stickers that said, “Vote Yes to Divest.”
“We are not stock pickers,” Sine said. “The whole question of socially-responsible investing in terms of portfolio construction doesn’t really fit our model.”
The University uses Cambridge Associates , an investment adviser, to help them with portfolios, according to Sine.
“We’ve asked Cambridge to come back in May to address some of these questions,” Sine said. “We will take a fresh look at this in May and report back to you.”
Sine did not commit to taking any sort of action, but he promised to taking a hard look at divestment and social responsible investing in May.
“The concern you are expressing is real,” Kerwin told the students. “The number of students that we talk with at the ages of 16, 17 and 18 are far more sensitive to issues of global warming and the green posture of the campus that they are joining than of high school students a generation ago.”
AU is focusing on being the No. 1 choice for high school students, Sine said. Environmental awareness is something that prospective students consider when choosing a college or university.
Kerwin believes that incoming students are impressed by our commitment to be carbon neutral by 2020.
“I think that it is important for us to consider every opportunity we’ve got to make a realistic impact,” Kerwin said. “I don’t think with an endowment our size we will bring Exxon to their knees if we decide to pull whatever we have invested in them out.”
tdalcourt@theeagleonline.com
