The university missed GU Forming a Radically Ethical Endowment’s (GU F.R.E.E) deadline to release its financial relations with companies involved in state violence. At a Dec. 7 rally, GU F.R.E.E. presented a letter demanding to know whether the university is invested in a list of corporations tied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and private prisons.
“We were not asking, at that moment, for the university to divest,” Eman Abdelfadeel (COL ‘17) said. Instead, they were hoping for confirmation from DeGioia that Georgetown does not have direct or external investments in certain companies. The university did not provide this.
“As is standard practice, the University does not disclose individual investments in its portfolio nor their value,” university spokeswoman Rachel Pugh said.
In response, GU F.R.E.E. intends to expand their platform and methodology. “We’ve also been working to strengthen and broaden our coalition base,” Mackenzie Foy (COL ‘19) wrote in an email to the Voice. As part of this expansion effort, the group launched an official website and released a campaign platform Jan. 25.
Additionally, Georgetown’s Committee on Investments and Social Responsibility (CISR) is hearing a proposal on divestment from certain companies. Although submitted independently from GU F.R.E.E., some of the students behind this proposal have ties to the organization, including Abdelfadeel. The proposal outlines goals similar to those of GU F.R.E.E., such as Georgetown’s divestment from companies involved in private prisons and the Dakota Access Pipeline. CISR is seeking comments from the community throughout January as a way to address the public support for GU F.R.E.E.’s movement.
Members of GU F.R.E.E. remain unsatisfied. Abdelfadeel said that she feels their mission is urgent. “The longer Georgetown waits, the more people are violently targeted by the state with our money.”
