On Darfur and Divestment

Author: Philip Aroneanu 06.5

President Liebowitz, Students, Staff and Faculty



Members of the Sunday Night Group Socially Responsible Investment Campaign applaud the recent statement on divestment from companies financially supporting the Sudanese government. The people of the Darfur region of Sudan have been subject to what can only be characterized as a genocide. Flagrant human rights abuses and widespread murder such as this must be addressed globally. The Bush administration, in the wake of the hugely unpopular Iraq War, has taken to making noncommittal statements about the situation in Sudan, and the UN has followed suit. This is unacceptable. We must put a stop to genocide, whether it is in Rwanda, Bosnia or the Sudan.



In the absence of federal action on this issue, Middlebury College, in solidarity with many Colleges, universities and other institutions around the world, has taken an important first step in showing that we cannot be inactive while genocide is happening, that we are guilty of apathy if we do nothing. With over 850 student signatures and the support of many staff and faculty, it is clear that the Middlebury College community believes in the philosophical and tactical advantages of divestment in this case. As president Liebowitz states in the 4/26 announcement, Middlebury College has no funds currently invested in companies supporting the government of the Sudan. The Board of Trustees Investment Committee along with Investure, the third-party firm that invests our $765 million endowment, have ensured that they will prohibit investment in "any multinational companies that may provide the many factions that constitute the Sudanese Government with substantial financial resources."



As a student and member of the college community, I would like to know which companies are on the list. Among institutions dealing with Darfur divestment, there has been little agreement as to which multinationals provide "substantial financial resources" to the Sudanese government. Does Coca-Cola provide resources to the government if it sells soda pop to the militant Janjaweed or Sudanese kleptocrats? Is Siemens implicated if it builds communications infrastructure like telephone lines? Surely, PetroChina must be paying the Sudanese government mineral rights and taxes to drill in the Darfur region.



Issues like these do not have cut and dry solutions. If decisions such as this one-divesting from companies doing business with the Sudanese government-are made in a vacuum by administrators in Old Chapel and Trustees scattered around the country, how can we know if they are as effective as they can be? By divesting, we are saying that we care about what companies we are invested in are doing around the world; The college community must be part of the discussion on responsible investment policy. Currently, the Middlebury College community does not have access to any investment information. We don't know where the endowment money is going. The Sunday Night Group, supported by the SGA, the student body and many faculty and staff, have proposed the creation of an Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investment (ACSRI) that would be a venue for discussions of this sort. Once some level of investment transparency is reached, it would be charged with doing research on companies that Middlebury College is invested in and recommending action ranging from submitting and voting on shareholder resolutions to divestment in the most egregious cases. The Trustees will vote on the establishment of the ACSRI when they are on campus next weekend. We hope that President Liebowitz, the administration and the Trustees recognize the need for investment disclosure and more dialogue on the topic of socially responsible investment. A vote to form the ACSRI is a vote for more informed citizenry.