One year after launching a campus-wide push to withdraw the College’s investments in companies that do business in fossil fuels, Divest Dartmouth has gained support from students and alumni. In the spring, the group’s members will travel to Washington, D.C., to participate for a second year in a rally against the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a $5.3 billion project that would carry up to 830,000 barrels of crude oil daily from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
The petition, which originated from the national Divestment Student Network, calls for colleges to withdraw investments and endowments from the top 200 fossil fuel extraction companies, including BP and Chevron. As of press time, Divest Dartmouth had obtained 866 signatures on its online campaign, which is addressed to the Board of Trustees.
Morgan Curtis ’14, a campaign co-organizer, said she is excited about the support the petition has received.
“We have a strong history of using student voices to call for divestment and make change on social issues,” Curtis said.
Over the past year, Divest Dartmouth has used various methods to raise awareness about the campaign, including reaching out directly to faculty members and alumni, holding tabling events on the Green and conducting a panel, Curtis said.
The group also works with other environmental organizations on campus and holds weekly open meetings.
Organizers’ passion for the issue stands out to Kimberly Son ’17.
“As a green campus, in both senses of the word, I love the fact that I can help be a part of the movement,” she said.
Since the campaign’s inception, alumni have written in support of the cause to the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, offered to speak at Divest Dartmouth events and contacted other people in their class, the Board of Trustees and the College president to increase support, Curtis said.
“I think it’s really exciting for alumni to see this happening at Dartmouth, and have it reconnect them to the school, by being proud of what current students are doing,” Curtis said.
Over 300 institutions, including all eight Ivy League schools, currently participate in the campaign.
Divest Dartmouth has yet to formally meet with College administrators, Curtis said, as its goal is to build campus support before asking the College to make any decisions.
At a press conference in Davos, Switzerland, late last month, former College president and current World Bank President Jim Yong Kim endorsed divestment as a strategy to fight climate change.
During the Washington, D.C., rally, which will take place on March 2, students from different colleges will gather near the White House and call for President Barack Obama to halt construction on the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
“Young people are the ones who helped Obama win his election, and this is not what we voted for,” Divest Dartmouth co-organizer Leehi Yona ’16 said. “The Keystone XL pipeline is not what we voted for.”
The crowd plans to converge at Georgetown University then walk to the White House gates and engage in peaceful civil disobedience. One goal of the “XL Dissent” protest, Yona said, is for 500 people to engage in non-violent civil disobedience and get arrested.
“The fact that this is entirely youth-organized brings back the attention to the fact that we as young people are the ones that are going to be left to deal with climate change and the huge issues of intergenerational justice associated with that,” Yona said.
Last year, Divest Dartmouth took 15 students to the nation’s capital to participate in the “Forward On Climate” rally, in which an estimated 40,000 people marched to the White House urging President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline. During the upcoming Washington, D.C., trip, Divest Dartmouth members will get to meet other groups working on divestment campaigns and discuss strategy.
“Sustainability extends way beyond this campus,” Yona said. “It’s connecting with schools and realizing how much of an impact we can have if we looked at the bigger picture."
The article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction appended: Feb. 20, 2014
The initial version of the article mischaracterized the group's communication with the administration. Divest Dartmouth has yet to formally meet with College administrators.
