Dive Brief:
- Cornell University’s board of trustees will discuss $24 million in fossil fuel investments at two meetings this week and consider divestment, according to the Ivy League school.
- Bloomberg Business reports it is not clear whether trustees plan to vote on a path forward following these meetings, but their options include full and partial divestment as well as no change, which Cornell’s current president, Elizabeth Garrett, and former president David Skorton have both advocated.
- Cornell’s 3.4% investment return in the last fiscal year put it at the bottom of the Ivy League, perhaps complicating the decision to shake up the endowment.
Dive Insight:
Fossil fuels make up a large part of the endowments of many U.S. universities and it is an oft-cited argument against divestment that returns will be hurt by alternative investing. However, the low price of oil, spurred on by oversupply in the international market, has been a key factor in poor stock market performance this year. Divesting now, of course, would mean selling stocks in this sector at a time when they are worth relatively little.
In May, Swarthmore College’s board of managers rejected a student request to divest from fossil fuels. Harvard and MIT have resisted similar demands, though a handful of universities have divested — including Syracuse University and, at least partially, Stanford.