UNH-Following in the footsteps of such prominent universities as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Amherst, Brown, Brandeis and Dartmouth, the UNH student organization STAND (a student anti-genocide coalition) has formed their own Sudan divestment campaign on campus.
In an attempt to inform and gather support for the divestment campaign, STAND invited Daniel Millenson, the national advocacy director of the Sudan Divestment Task Force, to explain just what divestment is and how students can promote it at UNH.
The event, which took place last Monday night inside the MUB Strafford room, came after members of STAND discovered that the UNH Foundation was employing asset managers who were investing money in companies conducting business with Sudan.
The Sudanese government is then taking these profits to fund the Janjaweed militias who are conducting the genocide in Darfur.
"The Sudan Divestment Task Force has a screening tool on their website that highlights which highest offender asset managers are investing in and that's how we found out that UNH asset manager," said Jackie Lewis, the divestment head of the UNH STAND chapter. "Vanguard was investing in complicit companies."
According to Lewis, the UNH Foundation treasury later confirmed the findings.
While UNH does not directly invest in companies highly involved with the Sudanese government, typically referred to as "highest offenders," the university is employing asset managers, such as Vanguard and State Street Global Advisor (SSGA), who are investing UNH's endowments in highest offenders such as PetroChina, a Chinese oil company that has given both financial and political support to the Sudanese government.
According to Millenson, divesting from companies like PetroChina would force the Sudanese government to pay a price for its refusal to restore peace and security to Darfur.
"History shows the only time they give into international pressure is when they are given economic pressure," said Millenson, who added that while divestment will not stop genocide it will create the environment to end it.
On Tuesday, Lewis and other members of STAND, as well as a member from the Holocaust and Genocide Awareness club from Keene State College, met with the University System of New Hampshire's Investment Committee to explain how economic pressure has proven effective in the past and to discuss the committee's current asset managers and their investment holdings.
"They contacted all the companies and at this point in time they aren't investing in any highest offenders," said Lewis. "But that can't guarantee they won't tomorrow."
Lewis added that the challenge now is to have USNH engage with asset managers to commit to never invest in any highest offender companies.
Vice Chancellor & Treasurer of USNH Edward R. MacKay put together a letter to be sent out to mutual funds detailing their concerns, "over the atrocities occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan."
In the letter MacKay states that the USNH Board "does not and will not support investment in companies engaged in business operations with the Government of Sudan that directly or indirectly are complicit in committing genocide in Darfur."
The letter goes on to say, that while USNH will not restrict investment in any company or investment vehicle, the board would be extremely disappointed by the lack of judgment demonstrated by any such investments and may elect to take appropriate responsive action.
Lewis said now STAND's next plan of action will be monitoring and making sure USNH is taking as much action as they can. STAND members are also scheduled to meet with the UNH Foundation this weekend to discuss the foundations indirect investments in highest offender companies.
"University divestment is the bread and butter of this movement, it's what got everyone started," said Millenson at Monday's UNH Divestment event.
Over 50 universities have divested as well as every other state in New England, aside from New Hampshire.
"It seems like a little thing to pressure decision makers but it's about us making enough noise," said Lewis. "These things go a long way."
For more information about the Sudan Divestment Task Force, go to http://sudandivestment.org.
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