Divestment

For several years, students on campus had been pushing for fossil fuel divestment - the selling of St. Olaf’s investments tied to the fossil fuel industry - with minimal support from the administration. In the Spring of 2019, students formed the Climate Justice Collective (CJC) with the intention of focusing on divestment and intersectional climate action in Northfield. In the Fall of 2020, Abby Becker '21, a leader in CJC, met with the Chief Investment Officer about next steps and subsequently wrote and submitted a fossil fuel-free policy proposal with help from other members of CJC. During this time, petitions were circulated to students, faculty, and alum in support of divestment from fossil fuels. The Student Senate also voted to renew the 2019 resolution in support of divestment from fossil fuels.

In January of 2021, several members of CJC met with members of St. Olaf’s Investment Committee to discuss this proposal and resubmitted the proposal to the Committee on February 1st. The Investment Committee discussed the proposal at their February meeting, reporting that some aspects of the proposal will likely be added to St. Olaf’s Investment Policy. The Investment Committee will be voting on the proposal in May 2021. No more information on the Investment Committee’s decision has yet been released.

The full fossil-fuel-free policy proposal can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mq0FVARjA-LybdCuz1YIZwRACu2ABocTIzaeQu0TkzM/edit?usp=sharing