After discussing proposals concerning University apparel regulations and divestment from Sudan Tuesday afternoon, the Brown University Community Council recommended further deliberation on both proposals.
The council discussed a proposal brought to the University by the Student Labor Alliance asking the University to buy apparel manufactured under the Designated Suppliers Pro-gram, which mandates certain standards for companies from which the University purchases apparel.
Brown currently buys about $700,000 worth of apparel from up to 60 different licensers who choose from as many as 560 factories to produce clothing found in the Brown Bookstore, said Vice President for Administration Walter Hunter. Hunter estimated various Brown departments and athletic programs order an additional $200,000 to $300,000 worth of apparel.
Brown currently purchases from licensors who agree to the code of conduct established by the Worker Rights Consortium, which includes standards for child labor, wages, working hours and other labor issues. But compliance with the program is almost impossible to monitor, said SLA member Chris Eaton '06.
"Everyone agrees we need to do more," Hunter said. However, "the scope of this whole program in the world is quite huge," he added.
DSP factories must adopt a code of conduct, allow labor unions, pay employees living wages and produce merchandise exclusively for university markets, Hunter said.
Buying exclusively from DSP "creates a precedent for the industry where there is an alternative model and other companies will see it as a viable market," Eaton said.
Reactions to the program among universities considering the DSP proposal have been mixed, according to Lawrence Carr, director of the bookstore and services.
A conference call on Monday between representatives from 40 of these universities yielded questions about the feasibility of the program, Carr said. Some expressed concern that the program might hurt the people it was intended to help, since if living wages were paid some workers might be fired to compensate. Others expressed concerns about the costs of the program.
The BUCC decided that SLA should work with University administrators to study this issue further.
Also at the meeting, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Elizabeth Huide-koper gave a presentation on University investment policy, introducing the Sudanese divestment proposal brought to the administration by Students Taking Action Now Darfur.
Huidekoper said Brown's Corporation is ultimately responsible for making investment decisions, but takes recommendations from President Ruth Simmons and the rest of the Brown community.
It is only possible for the University to divest from investments it holds directly, Huide-koper said. Only 18 percent of Brown's investments are directly held, with the remaining 82 percent in managed funds, which are often impossible to monitor, Huidekoper said. Of the companies that Brown holds directly, one is a petroleum company involved in pumping oil from Sudan, according to ACCRI chairman Harold Ward.
"Military action is very reliant on foreign direct investments," said STAND member Chris Talbot '06, who spoke in support of divestment. Sixty percent of oil revenues in Sudan go to military expenditures, which help to fund the genocide, he said.
By divesting from Sudan, Brown would encourage other universities and investors to divest, said STAND member Caitlin Cohen '07.
Harvard, Stanford and Dart-mouth have already divested from Sudan, according to Cohen. The states of Illinois, Oregon and New Jersey have also divested their pension plans from Sudan.
STAND proposes that Simmons recommend to the Corporation that the University divest from the oil company and set a policy of not investing in telecommunications and oil companies in Sudan.
"We have the ability to stop this genocide and we must act," said Scott Warren '09.
Members of the BUCC came to a consensus that the Univer-sity should recommend divestment to the Corporation but decided to discuss the issue further at the BUCC's February meeting.
