Students Urge Darfur Divestment

By: Andrew Peters

Posted: 2/20/07

A group of students urged a UConn Foundation investment manager Monday to consider withdrawing investments from the genocide-plagued country of Sudan, which they said would help restrict cash flow to its oppressive government.

About 15 students, all members of Professor Robert Luyster's INTD 250: "Global Militarization" class, met with the UConn Foundation's Associate Vice President of Treasury Services Kevin Edwards at the Foundation building Monday to voice their ethical concerns about the Foundation's investment strategy. The group said they hope to deter the genocide by divesting funds from companies who operate in Sudan.

"One objective of the class … in light of evidence to genocide in Darfur is trying to encourage divestment on a university level," said Jeremy Jelliffe, a 6th-semester philosophy major. "It would be cool to look into investing with companies who aren't going to be [in Sudan] as much."

According to Edwards, the Foundation currently invests 0.5 percent of its portfolio - over $10 million - in companies that have been linked to the Sudanese government, which has allegedly financed genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. The Foundation is independent of UConn but manages the university's endowments, which total more than $300 million.

"Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have lost their lives since the Darfur conflict erupted in February 2003," according to Amnesty International's Web site. "Systematic human rights abuses have occurred, including killing, torture, rape, looting and destroying of property by all parties involved in the conflict, but primarily by the Sudanese government and government-backed Janjawid militia."

After over an hour of deliberation, Edwards said he would try to give the students a chance to present their proposal at the next investment committee meeting in March. Despite the offer, the group remained wary of its proposal being bogged down in bureaucracy.

In the 80-minute meeting, the students discussed the Foundation's investment policy with Edwards and brought some ideas for change to his attention. Edwards acknowledged the tragedy in Darfur but said it's not his place to fight social battles on the job.

"My goal is to maximize investment return," Edwards said. "Maximization is the only statutory criteria."

"Since the Foundation is just one of many investors [under an investment manager], I can't tell the investment manager what to do," he said. "Social criteria are not part of our investment guideline at this time."

However, since the Foundation's main objective is to serve the student body, Edwards suggested the students gather evidence that shows divestment in Sudan is in UConn students' best interest in order to spur change.

"We're working on a petition [to show] that the majority of the student body would like to support divestment," Jelliffe said.

But the students said there are still many ways the Foundation could be more responsible about Darfur.

"We want to make it clear we're looking to access targeted investment-withdraw investments from companies that directly benefit the Sudanese government," said Kaitlyn Newman, a 4th-semester political science and peace studies major. "We're asking you to responsibly pick who you make investments with."

Although Edwards didn't promise any changes, he said he respects the group's conviction.

"[The UConn Foundation] is not necessarily here to drive social mandates," he said, "but I'd like to think we have a concerned citizenry, and what I'm seeing here today is that yes, we do."

The students agreed to compile a detailed PowerPoint show to present to the Foundation's investment committee. The investment committee's next meeting is in March, but Edwards said time constraints may force the presentation back to the following meeting in May.

Luyster, for one, was hardly impressed.

"The longer we're talking," he said, "the more people are dying."