Divestment

Bryn Mawr’s fossil fuel divestment campaign was initiated by members of the Earth Justice League in October 2012 and joined the national fossil fuel divestment campaign, which was beginning to gain traction on campuses across the country around this same time. Initially, the campaign met with Bryn Mawr’s CFO at the time, John Griffith, to begin a working relationship with administrators. Bryn Mawr’s campaign began to raise student awareness of the college’s investment in fossil fuel companies by putting up flyers, tabling in the Campus Center to distribute information, foster conversation and answer questions on divestment.

During the 2013 Spring semester, the Environmental Justice League met with the Responsible Investments Committee on February 8th, with former President Jane McAuliffe on February 25th, and with the Investment Policy Subcommittee on April 25th. In these meetings the Environmental Justice League asked:

  • That Bryn Mawr College and the Board of Trustees divest, over a five year time period, from the two fossil fuel companies that hold some of the largest coal and natural gas reserves in the world.
  • That Bryn Mawr College not invest in any of the top 200 fossil fuel companies in the future.
  • That Bryn Mawr College phase out investments in non-marketable securities over a set time line.
  • And that Bryn Mawr College announce these decisions publicly.

The Divestment Campaign received more than 300 student petition signatures were endorsed by Bryn Mawr’s Self-Government Association in February of 2013:

Divestment Statement: The Assembly of the Bryn Mawr Self-Government Association supports the goal of fossil fuel divestment. The Assembly asks that the school immediately freeze new investment in fossil fuel extraction and work towards full divestment. As a body of representing students, the Assembly believes that swift action to stop climate change is in the best interest of our futures.

Source: SGA February 3, 2013 Minutes – http://sga.blogs.brynmawr.edu/2013/02/07/february-3-2013-minutes/

However, in a letter to the Divestment Campaign student leaders, the Chair of the Investment Policy Subcommittee wrote that they would not recommend the proposed divestment to the full Board of Trustees, but commended the students on their organization and preparation. The Subcommittee felt that divestment would greatly and negatively affect the College financially as they estimated the College would take a loss of $10 million over the five year divestment period. In addition to the negative effect on the College, the Subcommittee did not feel that Bryn Mawr’s divestment from these two companies would affect the companies as intended. The full letter can be read here.

Despite the Subcommittee’s decision not to recommend divestment to the Board of Trustees, Bryn Mawr’s divestment campaign continues to work toward greater student collaboration on issues such as investment and the College’s social and environmental responsibility. Creation of this relationship was also encouraged by the Investment Policy Subcommittee in their letter to the students in August. The Sustainability Leadership Group, which includes students from several environmental organizations on campus, was able to meet with the full Board of Trustees at the October 2013 meeting, which is hopefully the beginning of even greater student involvement in College decisions and greater transparency. Look out for a Spring 2014 Plenary resolution from the Earth Justice League/ Divest Bryn Mawr regarding student collaboration with the Board of Trustees and greater transparency (this resolution was to be presented at 2013 Fall Plenary, however Plenary never reached quorum and was tabled).