Hampshire College's divestment from a mutual fund this month has sparked controversy on its Amherst, Mass. campus. The administration has said the decision was based on a comprehensive audit of the fund, while the Hampshire chapter of the activist group Students for Justice in Palestine says the divestment is rooted in their campaign to cut the college's financial ties to the Israeli occupation.
Hampshire's Board of Trustees voted Feb. 7 to divest from a State Street mutual fund that "held stocks in well over 200 companies engaged in business practices that violate the college's policy on socially responsible investments," according to Hampshire's Web site. Six of those companies - Caterpillar, Terex, Motorola, ITT, General Electric and United Technologies - have contracts with the Israel Defense Forces, and SJP has previously lobbied Hampshire to divest from them.
Five days after the divestment, the Climax - Hampshire's student newspaper - reported that "Hampshire is the first college in the United States to cut its financial ties to Israel's armed forces and activities in Gaza." Hampshire SJP claimed "victory" on its Web site, asserting that the Board's decision was "a direct result of pressure and efforts" by the group.
Hampshire Board of Trustees chairman Sigmund Roos MA'80 called SJP's assertion "disingenuous."
"It was very clear," Roos said. "We had a lot of investments in that mutual fund that we did not want to be holding" because they violated Hampshire's socially responsible investment policy.
Roos said a report by the independent investment research firm KLD drove the divestment decision and the Board "never got to the merits of the SJP proposal." According to Hampshire's Web site, the college does not invest in corporations with records of "unfair labor practices, environmental abuse, military weapons manufacturing and unsafe workplace settings policy."
In an online statement entitled "Statement of Clarification Regarding Trustees' Actions on College Investments," Roos and Hampshire's president and vice president said that a review of the State Street fund was initially undertaken by the school's investment committee "to address a petition from ... Students for Justice in Palestine." But the investment committee's decision "did not pertain to a political movement and it was not made in reference to Israel," the statement concludes.
"The board was absolutely clear that no one country was singled out," Roos said. He added that undergraduate representatives were present at the investment committee meeting.
Hampshire SJP posted a response to the administration's statement on its Web site. In part, it states, "Hampshire College divested from the mutual fund for many reasons, yet the Palestine-Israel conflict was the most prominent reason behind divestment; the decision to divest was not outside of the context of SJP's efforts. It does not matter if the Hampshire administration issues a public statement condemning the occupation; the Hampshire community understands how and why we came to divest."
Hampshire SJP member Ilana Rossoff said it was "unfortunate" the school administration - which she said once supported the SJP initative - took "a step back" in order to "avoid political repercussions."
"It's really important in this time of great injustice to take a stance," Rossoff said. "There are colleges all around the country that have been working on divestment campaigns."
On its Web site, Hampshire SJP calls the divestment "a direct result of a two-year intensive campaign" by the group. The site also claims "over 800 students, professors, and alumni have signed SJP's 'institutional statement' calling for the divestment."
Rossoff said SJP's agenda was to end Hampshire's investment in companies "complicit specifically in the occupation" of the West Bank and Gaza. "We in no way claim to be divesting from Israel," Rossoff said.
Roos told The Herald that Hampshire invests in a number of Israel-based companies and foreign corporations that do business in Israel.
Since Feb. 7, Hampshire SJP has received statements endorsing their efforts from a variety of academics, activists and leaders, including South African anti-apartheid leader Desmond Tutu and Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters.
In 1977, Hampshire became the first academic institution in the country to divest from apartheid-era South Africa. Rossoff said the recent divestment set a similar precedent.
"This move was historic," Rossoff said of Hampshire's divestment, "no matter what they say."
