On Oct. 3, Drew Faust, president of Harvard University, issued a statement that the university has no plans to divest from fossil-fuel companies. The statement came in response to a national movement, that includes Harvard and Dartmouth, promoting widespread divestment from fossil fuel companies.
Faust's statement responded to a campaign by a Harvard sustainability organization, Students for a Just and Stable Future, which aims to persuade the university to stop investing in fossil fuel companies.
"While I share their belief in the importance of addressing climate change, I do not believe, nor do my colleagues on the Corporation, that university divestment from the fossil fuel industry is warranted or wise," Faust said. Divest Harvard, working in cooperation with Students for a Just and Stable Future, criticized Faust's decision.
"Leadership requires courage and vision President Faust demonstrated neither," the group said in a statement. "Today, she chose the fossil fuel industry over her students."
Harvard junior Allison Welton, a Students for a Just and Stable future member, said Faust's response disappointed her.
"We were just hoping for some open dialogue and getting the chance to explore this subject in an open forum," she said. "We were met with a closed mind. [Faust] didn't even respond directly to our request for a public forum."
Divest Dartmouth organizer Morgan Curtis '14 reacted similarly to Faust's statement.
"Being told no,' making that a benchmark going forward, makes us want to work harder and try harder," she said.
Divest Dartmouth, a student-run organization that seeks to raise awareness of the environmental irresponsibility of publicly-traded fossil fuel companies, formed at the College in January. The group hopes ultimately to convince the Board of Trustees to divest from companies that are involved in the fossil fuel industry, organizer Leehi Yona '16 said.
International environmental organization 350.org, a vocal member of the divestment movement, appears energized by Faust's statement.
"This is the fight we've been waiting for," 350.org divestment campaign manager Jay Carmona said in a statement. "Getting a clear rejection from a board of trustees or college president only serves to clarify the fight that's underway on campus. Students are not backing down they're getting more fired up by the day."
Critics of the divestment movement point to its impracticality, as colleges with significant endowments look to fossil fuel companies as key investments in their portfolios, and few are currently willing to consider limiting their investment options.
"The funds in the endowment have been given to us by generous benefactors over many years to advance academic aims, not to serve other purposes, however worthy," Faust said in the statement. "Significantly constraining investment options risks significantly constraining investment returns."
College spokesperson Justin Anderson said in an email that while the College remains committed to its sustainability efforts, the endowment's sole goal is to provide revenue to the College and is not meant as a tool for enacting social change.
"The primary purpose of Dartmouth's endowment is to provide continuous operating support to the institution," Anderson said. "We have a responsibility to ensure that investment decisions are made that yield the best long-term financial results for Dartmouth."
Tuck School of Business professor Ing-Haw Cheng said fossil fuel divestment would prove risky for large endowments like Dartmouth's.
"Traditional energy markets are a huge part of the economy, and it is not clear if one can move away from these companies without sacrificing portfolio performance," Cheng said.
In response to claims that fossil fuel divestment is too financially risky to implement, Curtis said divestment is both a financial and a political act.
"We're not requesting the College to make less money or put the endowment at risk," she said. "We're asking them to make these moral decisions, looking at our future both economically and morally."
Yona cited Dartmouth's long history of divesting, including a 1989 decision to divest from South Africa due to apartheid and a 2005 decision to divest from Sudan-related companies because of genocide there. The College's decision to divest from South Africa meant reinvesting 15 percent of their endowment's portfolio. Yona said that given the historical stability displayed by the endowment following these divestments, fossil fuel company divestment will not hurt the College's bottom line.
"Dartmouth was the first Ivy League to divest from South Africa during the apartheid," Yona said. "Even though it was a significant investment at the time, our endowment did not suffer as a result."
