2008 Woodie Awards
Divestment proposal takes stand against companies that fund genocide in Darfur
By: Zac Farber, Managing Editor
Issue date: 2/15/08 Section: News
More than 10,000 Sudanese refugees fled to Chad this week, after another spate of violence in the Darfur region, where more than 200,000 people have been killed since 2003. A few international corporations have helped finance the industrial violence that has become a hallmark of the Darfur conflict. Sandy Robson '08 is trying to make Macalester a part of the growing movement that opposes this corporate-sponsored genocide.
Robson is working to persuade the Macalester administration to use a method of protest, known as divestment, to make a political statement against companies whose business practices, she says, enable the actions of the Sudanese government.
The Legislative Body of Macalester College Student Government will vote Tuesday on a proposal co-authored by Robson, which would require divestment from offending companies that the college has direct holdings in, following a window of three months for the company to change its policy.
Craig Aase, Macalester's chief investment officer, said that the college presently doesn't invest in any such companies. Robson's proposal would apply to potential future investments.
For mutual funds, hedge funds and other types of external financial management funds, in which the majority of Macalester's endowment is invested, Robson's proposal would require the college to "submit letters" to the fund managers "requesting that they consider removing scrutinized companies from their holdings," but there would be no requirement for the funds to change.
Macalester currently has only one stock, worth $75,000, invested in one of these funds, Aase said.
The Sudan Divestment Task Force, a non-profit organization, releases a list of what its website calls, "the most egregiously offending companies in Sudan" and keeps track of which universities, states, cities, countries, and other organizations refuse to invest in the "offending companies." Almost 60 universities-including Harvard, Yale and the University of Minnesota-have stopped investing in those companies, according to the website, and about 50 more universities are considering adopting divestment proposals.
Robson is working to persuade the Macalester administration to use a method of protest, known as divestment, to make a political statement against companies whose business practices, she says, enable the actions of the Sudanese government.
The Legislative Body of Macalester College Student Government will vote Tuesday on a proposal co-authored by Robson, which would require divestment from offending companies that the college has direct holdings in, following a window of three months for the company to change its policy.
Craig Aase, Macalester's chief investment officer, said that the college presently doesn't invest in any such companies. Robson's proposal would apply to potential future investments.
For mutual funds, hedge funds and other types of external financial management funds, in which the majority of Macalester's endowment is invested, Robson's proposal would require the college to "submit letters" to the fund managers "requesting that they consider removing scrutinized companies from their holdings," but there would be no requirement for the funds to change.
Macalester currently has only one stock, worth $75,000, invested in one of these funds, Aase said.
The Sudan Divestment Task Force, a non-profit organization, releases a list of what its website calls, "the most egregiously offending companies in Sudan" and keeps track of which universities, states, cities, countries, and other organizations refuse to invest in the "offending companies." Almost 60 universities-including Harvard, Yale and the University of Minnesota-have stopped investing in those companies, according to the website, and about 50 more universities are considering adopting divestment proposals.
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