December 2014 Statement

The following statement was issued to the Boston University community on behalf of the committee on December 10, 2014:

Dear Members of the Boston University Community,

We are writing today to update you on the Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing’s (ACSRI) response to two initiatives: a faculty petition asking the University to “divest its financial investments in fossil fuel interests” and a student request to consider fossil fuels as its next topic. Both of these initiatives were submitted to the Advisory Committee last summer. During their two fall meetings, the committee members formally decided that their next topic would be fossil fuels. As part of their educational process, they will seek to:

  • Engage with faculty, students, and outside experts
  • Lead a community-wide learning and discourse process/plan
  • Mount a reference website

At the conclusion of this process, the Advisory Committee will consider whether or not to submit a recommendation to the Board of Trustees regarding the University’s fossil fuel investment practices. The Advisory Committee has begun the planning process and expects to share more details with the BU community by the end of January 2015.

Boston University’s Board of Trustees formally created the ACSRI in December 2013, to provide the University community with a framework and forum for consideration of, and civil discourse about, socially responsible investment policy issues. The Advisory Committee’s charter states that its mission is to: (a) represent a wide spectrum of the BU community (trustees, faculty, and students); (b) be knowledgeable about relevant, socially responsible investing issues in order to engage in informed, thoughtful, and collegial consideration and discussion; (c) provide continuity and institutional memory on relevant policy issues; (d) advise the Board of Trustees on socially responsible investment policy issues by proposing written policies for the Board’s consideration; and (e) coordinate and facilitate communication on relevant policy issues.

Sincerely,

Robert A. Brown
President

Richard D. Reidy
Trustee, ACSRI Chair