To: Kenyon College Board of Trustees
Divest Kenyon From Fossil Fuels
To the Kenyon College Board of Trustees:
From its place on a hill in rural Ohio, Kenyon College prepared us to engage fully with the larger world: to be leaders, innovators, and socially conscious citizens. Now, as alumni, we ask Kenyon’s policymakers to do the same.
The time for questioning the reality of climate change has passed; we know it’s real and that the need for action is urgent. Kenyon has already committed in its own sustainability statement to make “conscious decisions that reflect the changing nature of the environment.” We applaud this.
Yet, while Kenyon has made real progress, this ethic does not extend to its financial strategy. Kenyon’s endowment, like those of many other institutions, contains investments in some of the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies, companies whose quest for profit has driven unprecedented global climate change.
Current students have launched an effort to divest Kenyon’s endowment from the largest 200 publicly traded fossil fuel companies over the next five years. We support them.
We envision an endowment that worthy of Kenyon’s mission. Already, students at over 250 U.S. universities have asked their administrations not only to divest from fossil fuels, but to move their money to sustainable sectors. Overwhelming support has been demonstrated on campuses like Harvard, Middlebury, Cornell, and Amherst. Now, Kenyon has the chance not only to join this movement, but to lead it.
Kenyon has never been just about the bottom line. This is an opportunity to embody the leadership, morality and foresight that Kenyon has instilled in young minds for nearly two centuries.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
From its place on a hill in rural Ohio, Kenyon College prepared us to engage fully with the larger world: to be leaders, innovators, and socially conscious citizens. Now, as alumni, we ask Kenyon’s policymakers to do the same.
The time for questioning the reality of climate change has passed; we know it’s real and that the need for action is urgent. Kenyon has already committed in its own sustainability statement to make “conscious decisions that reflect the changing nature of the environment.” We applaud this.
Yet, while Kenyon has made real progress, this ethic does not extend to its financial strategy. Kenyon’s endowment, like those of many other institutions, contains investments in some of the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies, companies whose quest for profit has driven unprecedented global climate change.
Current students have launched an effort to divest Kenyon’s endowment from the largest 200 publicly traded fossil fuel companies over the next five years. We support them.
We envision an endowment that worthy of Kenyon’s mission. Already, students at over 250 U.S. universities have asked their administrations not only to divest from fossil fuels, but to move their money to sustainable sectors. Overwhelming support has been demonstrated on campuses like Harvard, Middlebury, Cornell, and Amherst. Now, Kenyon has the chance not only to join this movement, but to lead it.
Kenyon has never been just about the bottom line. This is an opportunity to embody the leadership, morality and foresight that Kenyon has instilled in young minds for nearly two centuries.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
Why is this important?
Support current students who calling for Kenyon to divest from the world's 200 dirtiest fossil fuel companies. Let's make sure our endowment lives up to Kenyon's mission.