Quick History
A quick history of activism at Grinnell leading up to this demand.
WHAT IS SRI?
SRI is using our investments in a socially responsible manner. Just as “social responsibility” can mean different things in different places, so is SRI adaptable to the goals and interests of your institution. SRI at Grinnell must, therefore, be using our investments in line with our Core Values. This is consistent with the college’s official investment policy, which states that “The Investment Committee recognizes the importance of socially-responsible decisions to the long-term financial performance of business enterprises, and it selects investments and investment managers whose conduct is consistent with the core values of the College.” SRI at Grinnell would include:
- more community investments
- transparency of endowment spending
- proxy voting our shares!
- reserving the right to divest in “apartheid-like situations”
This proposal explains it well.
WHY SRI?
- We have a moral responsibility to apply our values to our investments.
- Our investments have a great impact on our community and the world.
- It gets results!
Sustainable Endowments Institute Survey
The Sustainable Endowments Institute has released a survey of shareholder practices in higher education that targeted the 331 largest college and university endowments and included all schools with $100 million or more in endowment assets. The survey looked at proxy voting, transparency of endowment holdings, and related policy questions. Key findings about shareholder practices at the 216 colleges and universities who responded to the survey (65%) include: two-thirds of the colleges and universities do not disclose university endowment investments; nearly three-quarters of colleges and universities keep proxy voting records private; only five percent of schools include students in proxy voting decision-making; and almost half of the schools would be open to giving students and others a voice in proxy voting.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-05-29-college-invest_x.htm
http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article.cgi/2020.html
SRI At Other Colleges
Barnard College: Case Study, Web Site
The SRI Campaign at Grinnell
Students have been campaigning for SRI at Grinnell for the past 3 and a half years, and we have made some progress. Thanks to many presentations and meetings, all of the trustees are familiar with the concept. The Investment Portfolio is now printed and made public to anyone in the community quarterly (a copy can be viewed in the office of the College Treasurer). However, no committee has been formed, no proxies have been voted, and no commitment to increased community investment or the right to divest have been made.
2008 SRI proposal
presented to the trustees in December 2007, rejected in a letter from the Investment Committee dated February 1st, 2008.
See documentation of a series of student proposals to administration and trustees dating from 2006.
Grinnell’s Investment Report Card 2007
Compare some of the companies that Grinnell is currently invested in with the latest news in corporate accountability (USA Today Corporate Accountability Headliners ):
OUR DEMANDS
We demand the adoption of complete transparency of our investment holdings and the creation of a Responsible Investment Committee with students, staff, faculty, and trustees at the meeting of the Board of Trustee the weekend of April 23rd, 2009. We demand that this policy and that this committee be in place by the October 2009 meeting of the Board of Trustees.
