UPenn's divested, when will UD?

Approximately 60 universities, 24 states, 18 cities, a year of continued efforts by the campus group STAND and an ever-increasing global focus on the advancement of human rights have not caused top officials at the university to formally recognize the adoption of a plan of Sudanese divestment as a pressing issue on campus.

More than one year after the members of the registered student organization, STAND, a student anti-genocide coalition, set out to meet with the leaders of the university, members claim there still has been no substantial recognition by President Patrick Harker that divestment is worth bringing to the forefront of university priorities.

STAND president Hilary Jampel said she is frustrated over the news that there are no open appointments for STAND members to meet with Harker face-to-face until after Memorial Day, which at its earliest would be five days after the last day of classes for the Spring Semester.

"This is the second time that we have tried to meet with President Harker and have been referred to someone else," Jampel said. "When it comes to genocide, the administration should be doing everything in their power to help us. All we want is for people to hear our thoughts.

"We're not asking for anything more at this point than a meeting."

Included in the 59 universities who have divested is the University of Pennsylvania, which adopted a plan of targeted divestment on June 19, 2006, when President Harker and Executive Vice President Scott Douglass were both still faculty members. In doing so, the University of Pennsylvania joined the ranks of Harvard University, Princeton University and Yale University by ensuring its endowments were not invested in companies supporting the government of Sudan.

Gerald Porter, chairman of the Social Responsibility Advisory Committee at the University of Pennsylvania, said the process of divesting was taken very seriously. "Universities are supposed to stand for good ethical behavior," Porter said. "Investing in companies supporting genocide is hardly ethical."

Porter said while many institutions feel divestment is the beginning of a slippery slope, when implemented through the following of strict procedures, and put into place only when all else fails, Sudanese divestment is an obvious choice.

Porter stressed that while none of the University of Pennsylvania's endowment was ever proven to have been invested in the Chinese companies supporting the genocide in Darfur, adopting a targeted plan of divestment was a moral decision the University of Pennsylvania community felt was clear and necessary.

The Review, at the request of President Patrick Harker's assistant Susan Williams, sent Harker an e-mail message with seven specific questions regarding divestment, both at the University of Delaware and the University of Pennsylvania.

Harker did not specifically answers the questions but responded with a single-paragraph that stated the University of Delaware is currently discussing the financial aspects of divestment. He did not comment on the divestment process at the University of Pennsylvania, which was passed while he held the position of dean of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

"I join with students and other members of our campus community, and the world, in decrying the violence in the Darfur region of Sudan," Harker stated in an e-mail message. "We have met with representatives from the campus group STAND, and they have made the case for divestment. Currently, we are reviewing our investment portfolio, and we will be discussing the issue later this spring with the Investment Visiting Committee of the University's Board of Trustees."

Jampel said she hopes with the help of the Student Government Association, actions will be taken this semester to both meet with Harker and begin the formal process of adopting a plan of divestment at the university.

"We have gotten the opportunity with two members of the administration - Michael Gilbert and Scott Douglass," Jampel said. "I fully appreciate that they have taken the time to meet with me. I think that both of those meetings were extremely beneficial to both sides. However, I have not met with President Harker yet, and I would greatly appreciate that opportunity."

Ashley Kiel, junior international relations major said that she is troubled by the lack of progress made by the administration.

"This is not a small issue," she said. "We are talking about the possibility of investments, on behalf of the University of Delaware, in a country that is fully engaged in a mass genocide of its own people. The University should be jumping at the opportunity to clear its name, not hiding behind indolent excuses to look into its investment strategy and ignoring its own student body.

"The genocide is overwhelming but we have the ability to do something. We have the ability to be sure we are not supporting murder."