By Isabel Oalican and Mehr Jalil, Staff Writers
In 2013, a group of students at Bryn Mawr College called upon the Board of Trustees to divest from fossil fuels from the endowment. Cheryl R. Holland, the former investment Policy Subcommittee Chair, issued a statement on behalf of the Board: “As fiduciaries of the College we are unable to recommend to the full Board this October the changes to the College’s investment strategy that you have called for […] To divest [from] the College’s direct private investments in oil and gas partnerships within the next five years would force the College to take, at minimum, an estimated $10 million loss on these investments.”
Seven years later, The Bryn Mawr College Divestment Coalition has approached divestment from a different, more institutionalized, and amicable approach. As opposed to previous divestment movements on campus, the Bryn Mawr College Divestment Coalition is not just a small group of students. Instead, it is a collaborative effort by the student body and environmental groups; as a member of the coalition describes, “We formed a divestment coalition composed of environmental organizations on campus and the student body in general.” The coalition is also in collaborative efforts with some members of the administration, including faculty and staff. The Divestment Coalition then created a petition to demonstrate further support from the general student body for divestment. With the help of over 700 petition signatures—mostly from students—the Coalition illustrated that the student body is overwhelmingly in favor of divestment from the fossil fuel industry.
The petition was subsequently presented to the Board of Trustees’ attention at a meeting where both the SGA’s Board of Trustees Representatives and President proposed divestment. The Board has agreed to join the divestment discussion.
Exactly how much money will be divested from the fossil fuel industry? At Big Cheese, a Q&A session held by admin and staff, President Cassidy confirmed that approximately 10 percent of Bryn Mawr’s endowment is currently invested in fossil fuel and related industries. It’s important to note that while the Board of Trustees has agreed to initialize the divestment process, it has not necessarily divested the funds yet.
Members of the Divestment Coalition demystified why divestment is important for Bryn Mawr College; it upholds the college’s commitment to “racial justice and to equity across all aspects of diversity propels our students, faculty, and staff to reflect upon and work to build fair, open and welcoming institutional structures, values, and culture.” Investing in fossil fuels does not maintain that mission, as those industries disproportionately impact vulnerable, minority populations. Instead, it is much more ethical to disassociate with fossil fuel industries and invest in sustainable energy, such as wind, solar, and hydropower. Research has proven that it may also yield an equal or greater/higher return on investments to invest in renewable energy and alternative sustainable energy than in continuing to invest in the fossil fuel industry. The process of divestment, however, is far more complicated than it initially seems.
The way in which Bryn Mawr and other institutions invest money in the fossil fuel industry is convoluted. A Divestment Coalition member explains how fossil fuel investments are often bundled with other investments: “Investments in the fossil fuel industry are not exactly independent of other investments, as there are bundles, commingled funds, and indirect investments.” Figuring out how to divest from fossil fuels affects an entire investment portfolio and often indirectly complicates other legal processes. Therefore much more discussion needs to be made on exactly how the entire investment portfolio should be rearranged. This process can take many years. Despite these hardships, the Board of Trustees has agreed to work collaboratively with the student body to figure out the details of divestment.
So what’s next? On Sunday, March 1st, a plenary resolution affirming the student body and Board of Trustees’ support in the divestment process will be voted on by SGA’s Representative Council (RepCo). On Monday, March 2, the Divestment Coalition will have an open invitation meeting for faculty and staff to figure out what a future relationship between the student coalition and faculty and staff support would look like. If the plenary resolution is affirmed by RepCo, then the resolution in support of divestment will be presented at Plenary on March 22. This resolution will confirm the student body’s support of divestment. Additionally, a Community Day of Learning session on the basics of divestment will be held on Thursday, March 19 by the Divestment Coalition.
Divestment discussions with the College are ongoing, but the stake of Bryn Mawr College’s commitment to upholding the future of the planet is in the community’s hands. The gravity of this process can best be described through the words of a Divestment Coalition member: “investment speaks to what you believe in, and since Bryn Mawr College has very strongly held beliefs in intergenerational equity and in [the idea of] Bryn Mawr excel[ling], Bryn Mawr cannot [uphold these beliefs] while we are still investing money into a broken and damaging system.”
Efforts to divest from fossil fuels is part of a larger movement that has swept college campuses across the country. Just within the seven sisters, Vassar College, Mount Holyoke College, and Wellesley College have all called for divestment from the fossil fuel industry. Smith College and Barnard College have both collaboratively worked with their Board of Trustees and have made strides towards divestment. Hopefully, Bryn Mawr College will follow suit. With the collective mobilization of the student body, administration, The Board of Trustees, faculty, and staff, Bryn Mawr can realize complete divestment in its near future. To begin the process now, The Board of Trustees and students will collectively tackle the challenges of divestment and the semantics behind the process at the upcoming Investment Responsibility Committee Meeting in April.
Image credit: Wikipedia
