Amherst College Board votes against investments in Sudan

– Contact: Stacey Schmeidel
Director of Public Affairs
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Amherst, Mass. — The Amherst College Board of Trustees voted unanimously in January to divest any direct investments, and refrain from future direct investment, in nearly two dozen multinational companies whose business activities have been identified as supporting the Sudanese government’s genocide in Darfur.

Amherst’s actions are designed to have maximum impact not only on the college’s own investments, but on those of other institutions, as well. A simple divestment vote would have had minimal effect, as Amherst currently has no direct investment in companies doing business in Sudan. However, Amherst has committed not only to refraining from direct investment, but also to communicating its stance to its fund managers, a small number of whom do have limited holdings (through pooled or commingled investment funds) in some of the companies on Amherst’s divestment list.

“We want to be sure that our investment managers understand our stance on this important issue as they consider their own investments,” said trustee Bill Ford ’83, who chairs the Board’s Investment Committee. “In addition,” said Board of Trustees chair Jide Zeitlin ’85, “we h ope to create a climate in which other colleges and universities will take similar action, and communicate their opinions to their investment managers. If these investment firms hear from enough clients, perhaps they ‘ll decide that the money to be made from investing in companies supporting the Sudanese government isn’t worth it, and they’ll divest their holdings.”

In making its decision, the Board noted that a “divestment action should be considered rarely and only in the face of human atrocities that are wholly inconsistent with the moral and ethical values of Amherst College.” In researching the issues associated with this decision, the Board’s Investment Committee noted “clear and mounting evidence that the government of Sudan is committing genocide against the people of its Darfur region.” The Board further determined that rather than a broad divestment from all companies doing business in Sudan (some of whose actions might be neutral, or even beneficial, to the people of the impoverished nation), it would focus its actions on specific companies*primarily in the oil and gas, energy and telecommunications industries*that are “[providing] the government of Sudan with substantial financial resources and the infrastructure to continue the sponsorship of genocidal actions in Darfur.”

In voting for the resolution, trustee Joseph Stiglitz ’64, a Nobel Prize-winning economist and a member of the faculty at Columbia University School of Business, noted that investment in the companies on Amherst’s list wasn’t creating jobs for the people in the region. “In this case, I see little or no benefit to investment; but I do see enormous costs,” he said.

Amherst College President Anthony W. Marx, who lived and worked in South Africa after graduating from college and whose subsequent scholarly research has focused in part on political change in that nation , noted that divestment has the potential to help build pressure that can contribute to powerful political change. “The Amherst Board has been thoughtful and exacting in outlining its plans for using our influence consistent with the college’s principles, and in demonstrating how an institution can act in accordance with such principles,” Marx said. “We have tried to set clear criteria for the companies on our list, and we will be clear about communicating those criteria to the public. Further, we hope to do what so many other colleges and universities have not: to communicate to our fund managers our concerns and expectations, and to inspire them to examine their own investments in this region.” Marx added that he has urged Amherst students to collaborate with peers at other schools on a cooperative effort and is impressed that so many college faculty are pressing TIAA-CREF for similar divestment in their retirement funds. He also noted that the college has non-profit internships that may be available for students interested in conducting summer work in this arena.

For a full list of the companies in which Amherst will refuse to invest, as well as complete text of the trustee resolution, go to www.amherst.edu/magazine/darfur.