GU Fossil Free has finished a proposal for the GUSA Senate to pass a resolution asking the University’s Board of Directors to divest from fossil fuels. The group plans to present the proposal on Nov. 24.
The move to involve GUSA comes as an attempt to prove to the Board of Directors that divestment is an issue students care about. “I know that one of the problems we have had in the past is that they think there is not broad student support for this,” Caroline James (COL ’16), member of the Fossil Free Core Team, said.
“This bill would be [students’] endorsement of our proposal,” she added. “We are trying to show through the Senate that students are educated about this idea, that they know that this can only benefit us, and that it’s an ethical thing for Georgetown to do.”
A GUSA Senate resolution is non-binding on the University and has no power over the endowment or Board of Directors. However, it would serve as a symbolic message to the administration.
“[A resolution] is meaningful,” Nate Tisa (SFS ‘14), president of GUSA, said. “It’s saying that students believe that it’s the right thing to do, and that helps to put pressure on the various organizations to take action.”
This resolution is part of the year-long campaign to reduce and then eliminate the University’s investment in fossil fuel companies. “About 8 to 10 percent of our endowment is invested in fossil fuels,” James said. “We are asking that the University freeze all new investments in fossil fuels and that over the next two years Georgetown gradually divests from its holdings in fossil fuels.”
Last semester, Fossil Free collected almost 1,500 signatures from students who supported divestment. The group also presented its proposal to the Committee on Investments and Social Responsibility, which advises Georgetown’s investments but also lacks the power to pass binding resolutions.
Fossil Free decided against a campus-wide referendum in order to increase the effectiveness of the process. “Because the Senate is a small representative subset of the student body, we’ll be able to sit down individually with any senators who have reservations about divestment,” Daniel Dylewsky (COL ‘15), member of the Fossil Free Core Team, wrote in an email to the Voice.
In the next few days, members of Fossil Free will begin talking to senators to address any potential concerns, including some that have already been expressed.
“Divestment has other consequences on other vital aspects of the University,” said Gabriel Pincus (SFS ‘14), GUSA secretary of sustainability. “For example, it might affect our ability to give scholarships.”
According to James, the most common concerns regard whether it will hurt the endowment or affect financial aid. “The answer to both of these questions is no,” she said.
Fossil Free members believe that GUSA should support their campaign because of an ethical responsibility to clean up the environment. “[It’s] not the kind of change we can expect to see until the fossil fuel industry loses its political stranglehold on the leaders who are in a position to affect it,” Dylewsky wrote.
Members of Fossil Free are optimistic about the likelihood of the Senate’s support. “I think that the majority will be receptive or at least open to the prospect of the resolution and open to the dialogue about divestment,” Sydney Browning (COL ’15), co-founder of GU Fossil Free, said.
The next steps of Fossil Free will be to increase community awareness of their campaign by tabling in Red Square and handing out frequently asked question flyers. “What we don’t want to happen is to only educate the senators,” James said. “We do want to continue to educate everyone. Hopefully divestment is a word that students begin to hear more and more.”
The ultimate goal is to put enough pressure on the Board of Directors so they have no other choice but to divest from Fossil Fuels. “I would love for Georgetown to be the first university with over a one billion dollar endowment to divest,” James said. “I think it shows huge initiative and honors Georgetown’s commitment to being socially responsible both as a Jesuit institution and not.”
