Recently some students referring to themselves as Anti-Racist Action submitted a proposal to President Ruth Simmons that recommended the University divest from companies doing $5 million or more in business in Israel per year. Their list included a few hundred companies, such as America Online, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Ben & Jerry's, Pfizer and Royal Crown Cola.
ARA's request was delivered to the Office of the President, among other places. On issues of socially responsible investing, the president maintains an advisory committee made up of students, faculty and alumni - the Presidential Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investing, on which we serve as the undergraduate student representatives.
Ultimately, the investment committee of Brown's Corporation decides where to invest in consultation with the president, whom the ACCRI advises, and the University's Investment Office.
We are hoping that the current discussion over divestment from Israel will be an educational opportunity for our campus. To that end, we want to briefly explain what the ACCRI is and how it works.
The ACCRI's charge can be found on pages 30-32 of the faculty rules and regulations, which can be downloaded at: http://www.brown.edu/
Faculty/Faculty_Governance/rules.html.
In short, the committee is charged with making shareholder proxy voting recommendations (voting our shares) and examining issues of "social harm" while balancing those issues with the mission of the university and its values. We also can recommend divestment when appropriate and give the president advice at her request.
President Simmons asked for our advice on the proposal for divestment from Israel, and we have made a recommendation to her, as is our responsibility as a committee. We anticipate that President Simmons will consider our advice as she determines how to respond to the divestiture proposal.
In the time we have served on the committee, we have recommended the divestiture from tobacco companies in directly held assets (the stock the University owns directly, as opposed to mutual funds we simply invest in). This recommendation was supported by the President and approved by the Corporation early in the fall of 2003.
To date, we have always considered any recommendation offered to the committee and/or president such as that the ARA presented.
We are thrilled with the increased interest in how the University invests money. We on the committee have been trying to think of creative ways to create a positive change in the world without adversely affecting Brown's ability to offer the best services, learning and financial support to its own students. We want feedback, ideas and support.
Currently we are encouraging the Corporation to establish a new part of the endowment fund dedicated to socially progressive investing, possibly to be called the "social choice" fund. We are hopeful that with enough support and creativity this new fund can be established and will advance the cause of socially responsible investing.
If this issue leads you to think more about Brown's socially responsible investing, I encourage you to work with us to help launch a "social choice" fund within our endowment. If you would like more information on the ACCRI or how to structure a proposal to our committee please get in touch with us.
James DeBoer '05 and Zachary Teutsch '05 represent you and your roommate.
