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Georgetown University announced Thursday that it will sell endowment holdings in coal companies and seek not to make such investments in the future. A statement from President John J. DeGioia said, '“The work of understanding and responding to the demands of climate change is urgent and complex. It requires our most serious attention. As a university community, we can best respond to this evolving and ongoing challenge when we embrace the tensions embedded in this work -- and the variety of perspectives that are present -- as we seek an ever deeper understanding of how to respond best in ways that contribute to the common good." The resolution adopted by the university's board stated that only an "insubstantial portion" of the $1.5 billion endowment is invested in coal companies.
GU Fossil Free, a student group that has been pushing for university to sell holdings in oil, gas and coal companies, said that the university has not gone far enough. "It is evident that the university made its decisions for mostly financial and public relations reasons. If the board had made their decision for principally moral reasons, then they would have supported full divestment," said a statement the group posted on its Facebook page.
