A panel of academics, activists and student organizers assembled by the Open the Books Coalition for a Responsible Endowment spoke to an intimate audience in Barus and Holley 166 Thursday night. The event — "Investing in Justice: Investing Injustice?" — addressed the consequences of irresponsible university endowment investments and the issue of social responsibility among institutions of higher education.
The first speaker was Martin Bourqui, a recent Tufts graduate and the national organizer for the Responsible Endowments Coalition, an organization whose goal is to change the way universities across the country invest their money. Bourqui talked about working with college students to set up campus committees to network with a wider group of activists and investigate their schools' policies to effectively push for appropriate changes.
Bourqui was followed by Wayne Langley, the director of higher education at the Service Employees International Union Local 615, who began his introduction with the statement, "transparency is one of those words that people love to use but hate to institute." He went on to explain that many universities have continued to make reckless investments, even after the financial crisis began two years ago. He likened the practice to playing at a roulette table, and expressed frustration that many universities are being run like for-profit enterprises instead of the non-profit institutions that they are.
The final speaker was Joshua Humphreys, a senior associate at the Tellus Institute, a research and policy organization that aims to utilize creative thinking and scientific evidence to address a broad range of environmental and social problems.
Earlier in the day, the Open the Books student group held a demonstration in front of the Watson Institute for International Studies urging the University to divest from HEI Hotels and Resorts. HEI is a hotel management company with a "documented history of unethical practices and intimidation of workers," protester Mariela Martinez '14 said.
Julian Park '12, a Herald opinions columnist and another student involved in the organization, expressed optimism that the members of the Corporation would decide not to reinvest in HEI: "(President) Ruth Simmons had been fairly good in the past of making it known that Brown will not stand for HEI's unethical treatment of workers," he said. Park added that if the University were to divest from the company, their decision would "have a domino effect on other schools everywhere," a sentiment that the panelists later echoed.
The Corporation is expected to discuss the University's investment in HEI at their meeting this weekend.
— With additional reporting by Hilary Rosenthal
