Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG. On Friday,
Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG. Donald Trump’s
Last May, the Board of Managers put Swarthmore on the wrong side of history. They continued to invest in and legitimize the fossil fuel industry — an industry that actively profits from racial and economic injustice and whose fundamental business plan involves
On April 17, the faculty overwhelmingly passed a formal resolution in support of a proposal to divest Swarthmore’s separately-managed funds and reinvest in sustainable solutions to the climate crisis. This resolution capped an historic four weeks for the divestment movement here at
Last Thursday, 43 students and alumni began the largest ever sit-in for fossil fuel divestment, asking Chris Niemczewski and Board Chair Gil Kemp to reopen a productive dialogue on how we can end our investments in the fossil fuel industry. Our sit-in
In his op-ed earlier this month, Professor Tim Burke questioned the efficacy of divestment, suggesting that instead of divestment, we should focus on changing consumption, arguing that doing so would have more symbolic impact than divestment. Specifically, Professor Burke suggested that it
On Monday, February 2, six members of Swarthmore’s Board of Managers again failed to take leadership on the climate crisis and divest from fossil fuels. With a majority of the student body and nearly half of the faculty calling for divestment, Mountain
Last December, 100 students and faculty rallied to deliver a petition to the Board of Managers, signed by over 800 students, 300 alumni, and 56 faculty, calling on them to divest. Since then, support for divestment has only grown. Now, over 1500
Swarthmore’s largest financial consultant, Cambridge Associates, recently announced that it will actively assist institutional investors in implementing fossil fuel divestment. For years, the Board of Managers has argued that it cannot divest because our existing fund managers do not offer fossil-free options.
Last week’s losses by Democrats in the midterm elections definitely do not bode well for action on climate change — or for a range of progressive issues such as women’s and immigrant’s rights. Climate change denier James Inhofe (R-OK) will be replacing