At its February meeting this weekend, the Corporation voted to divest University funds from companies doing business in Sudan in response to the ongoing genocide in the country's Darfur region. The University's governing body also approved a 4.7 percent hike in undergraduate tuition and fees, increased the University's operating budget by 8.2 percent and formally accepted nearly $20 million in gifts.
In an e-mail sent to the Brown community Saturday, President Ruth Simmons called the decision to divest "a critically important and strong statement by the University community regarding our abhorrence of the genocidal actions being supported and undertaken by the Sudanese government."
The University will exclude from its direct investments any companies "whose business activities can be shown to be supporting and facilitating the Sudanese government in its continuing sponsorship of genocidal actions and human rights violations in Darfur," according to the e-mail. The University will also require external account managers to exclude such companies from their direct investments.
By deciding to divest from companies doing business in Sudan, the Corporation adhered to Simmons' recommendation. Prior to the Corporation meeting, Simmons had not publicly announced her position on whether the University should divest.
Earlier this month, the Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investing and the Brown University Community Council both recommended that the University divest from companies with holdings in Sudan.
In her e-mail, Simmons thanked the ACCRI and the student group Students Taking Action Now: Darfur for their work in support of divestment prior to the Corporation meeting.
Increased tuition and budgetAlso this weekend, the Corporation approved a budget set by the University Resources Committee - which is composed of faculty, students and administrators - and recommended by Simmons.
The cost of a Brown education, including tuition and room and board fees, will rise 4.7 percent to $43,754 next year, with tuition for the Graduate School increasing 5 percent to $33,888.
Tuition and fees generally increase about 5 percent annually. Last February, the Corporation set undergraduate tuition and fees above $40,000 for the first time.
Responding to a request from the Undergraduate Council of Students for more funding for student activities, the Corporation raised the student activities fee for next year by $10 to $146 per student. Additionally, the Corporation agreed to transfer club sports from the student activities budget to the athletics budget, freeing up student activities money for student groups.
The $664.1 million operating budget for the next fiscal year - comprising the 2006-2007 academic year - is 8.2 percent larger than this year's budget.
The increase is designed to fund initiatives provided for by the Plan for Academic Enrichment, including a net increase of 15 to 25 faculty members, improvements to faculty salaries, enhanced grad-uate student stipends, support for need blind admission and an increase in financial aid for transfer and Resumed Under-graduate Education students.
In her campus-wide e-mail, Simmons announced a variety of infrastructure improvements included in the new budget. Funds have been allocated to improve physical infrastructure, support the University's libraries and add wireless Internet access to residence halls and more classrooms and public spaces.
Simmons emphasized in her e-mail that, though the University is increasing its budget to support a variety of key initiatives such as improving financial aid expanding the faculty, administrators must be cautious and realistic in the University's financial planning to account for rapidly rising costs in areas such as energy, facilities, health care and insurance.
"The University must face this challenge and develop a multi-year financial plan that not only supports the Plan for Academic Enrichment, but also creates a stable financial base to support Brown over the long term," Simmons wrote, noting that administrators have to make choices about which areas to prioritize when allocating the University's resources.
$20 million in donationsAt each meeting, the Corporation formally accepts all gifts to the University greater than $1 million. This weekend, nine gifts totaling nearly $20 million were accepted by the Corporation.
The gifts support a variety of established initiatives and programs. No gifts to launch entirely new initiatives - such as new buildings, academic centers or other projects - were announced this weekend.
The Corporation also formally established the Joukowsky Family Professorship in Archaeology. The professorship, funded by Professor Emerita of Old World Archaeology Martha Joukowsky '58 P'87 and Chancellor Emeritus Artemis Joukowsky '55 P'87, is designated for the Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, which was established in October 2004 with a gift from the Joukowskys.
The Corporation also ap-proved the appointment of Stephen Maiorisi as vice president for Facilities Management. Maiorisi had been serving as acting vice president of facilities.
