The ACSRI aims to advise the Board of Trustees’ Investment Committee about the ethical, social and environmental implications of the College’s investments. As a shareholder, the College has the right to influence companies through the filing of shareholder resolutions. Such a resolution can request that certain information be disclosed to shareholders, draw attention to an issue or urge the company to take action. These resolutions give all shareholders a say; they are put to every other company shareholder for a vote. According to the ACSRI, it is important that responsible investors make their voices heard and take advantage of these opportunities to vote and file resolutions. The ACSRI addresses the College’s failure to do so until now, advising the Board of Trustees on how to take action.
With the creation of the ACSRI, the College community now has a direct means through which to communicate with the Board of Trustees. Students can make their concerns heard on issues concerning investment through the organization. Currently, the committee consists of two faculty members, two staff members, four students and two alumni.
The committee will work directly with the Investment Office. For now, they advise the Board of Trustees on how to vote on shareholder resolutions, and hope, in the future, to work with the College in filing resolutions of its own. Letter writing is also a great start, said committee chair Alissa Ayden ’11. “We are willing to take small steps.” In the long run, ACSRI provides a unique opportunity for students to impact the College’s investment and the actions of these companies.
The committee needs student support to meet these goals — at this point, its future is dependent on the level of student involvement. “The Trustees and administration want to see that students care,” said Ayden. “We could not even begin to think of an extreme action like divestment unless there is wide College community engagement and support on the issues.”
Students now have online access to detailed information about the College’s investment: lists of all stocks it holds, its investment policy and annual updates on the College’s endowment. It is rare for a college to make so much information easily available to its students, according to Ayden. This “is a great and impressive step in endowment transparency,” said Ayden, “and we hope more students will utilize this knowledge.” Students are encouraged to bring any concerns to the ACSRI.
Last spring, a group of approximately 15 activist groups on campus, recognizing the importance of investment implications, collaborated and started to work toward creating such a committee. A proposal to form the ACSRI passed in Oct. 2008. Afterward, they held an open forum to discuss the significance of socially responsible investment. ACSRI hopes to hold such a forum every semester to get the community involved.
“In order to truly serve our mission as the voice of the College community, we need community members to speak up and let us know their thoughts,” said Ayden. The committee hopes to make the most of its unique opportunity — as Ayden said, “the sky is the limit.”