SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
At Swarthmore College, Longest Ever Divestment Sit-In Ends on Hopeful Note
After 32-day action, Swarthmore board agrees to discuss pulling college's holdings from fossil fuel companies
Apr 21, 2015
The longest and largest ever sit-in for fossil fuel divestment ended on Monday, after Swarthmore College students secured two major victories--a commitment from the institution's Board of Managers to engage in dialogue over pulling its holdings from oil, gas, and coal companies, and a faculty resolution formally recommending divestment.
About 175 students slept and studied for 32 days in Parrish Hall, where the Pennsylvania college's administrative offices are housed. The action was part of an ongoing 'Divestment Spring' that's sweeping campuses across the country, from Harvard University to the University of California system. Swarthmore is considered the birthplace of the fossil fuel divestment movement.
"If Swarthmore divests loudly and boldly, many other colleges and universities will take notice."
--Swarthmore College alumni
In a statement announcing the sit-in on March 16, the student group Swarthmore Mountain Justice declared:
We are calling on our college--the very institution tasked with preparing us for the future--to stand with us in ensuring a just and stable future. The Swarthmore community recognizes this opportunity to align our investments with our values. Over 1,100 faculty and alumni, along with 970 students (61% of the student body), have signed a petition calling on the College's Board of Managers to divest from fossil fuels. Despite this, the Board has rejected this historic opportunity to show international leadership on climate. We cannot stand idly by as Mr. Niemczewski and Board Chair Gil Kemp continue to prevent the Board of Managers from responding to the mandate from the Swarthmore community to align our investments with our values.
As a result of the sit-in, the Board of Managers announced that they would put fossil fuel divestment on the agenda at the May board meeting--but students said that wasn't enough. "While this is a major victory for our campaign, we are continuing to sit-in to call for the Board to reopen dialogue with us because we need to ensure that divestment will be seriously considered in May, and that the Board is committed to seizing the historic opportunity that we have before us," Erika Weiskopf, a sophomore and sit-in organizer, said in March.
Now, according to Tuesday's Philadelphia Inquirer, the Board has stated it will "engage" with the students leading up to its decision on divestment on May 1 and 2. The Board has said that it will specifically consider the students' four-point divestment proposal.
In addition, the Swarthmore faculty voted Friday to support the student demands, urging the Board to "announce divestment from the 200 Fossil Free Index companies in separately managed funds, with reinvestment in energy efficiency and renewables."
And late last week, Swarthmore alumni delivered 360 pledges to withhold donations until the Board commits to fossil fuel divestment, along with 1,083 petition signatures and over a hundred letters calling for divestment to the alumni office.
"If Swarthmore divests loudly and boldly, many other colleges and universities will take notice," the alumni wrote in an open letter published Thursday.
In a message posted at the group's Facebook page on Tuesday afternoon, Swarthmore Mountain Justice announced the end of the sit-in and thanked the "hundreds of students, faculty, alumni, and community members who joined us for the longest sit-in in the divestment movement's history. We made it clear #whoseside the Swarthmore College community is on."
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. If you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
The longest and largest ever sit-in for fossil fuel divestment ended on Monday, after Swarthmore College students secured two major victories--a commitment from the institution's Board of Managers to engage in dialogue over pulling its holdings from oil, gas, and coal companies, and a faculty resolution formally recommending divestment.
About 175 students slept and studied for 32 days in Parrish Hall, where the Pennsylvania college's administrative offices are housed. The action was part of an ongoing 'Divestment Spring' that's sweeping campuses across the country, from Harvard University to the University of California system. Swarthmore is considered the birthplace of the fossil fuel divestment movement.
"If Swarthmore divests loudly and boldly, many other colleges and universities will take notice."
--Swarthmore College alumni
In a statement announcing the sit-in on March 16, the student group Swarthmore Mountain Justice declared:
We are calling on our college--the very institution tasked with preparing us for the future--to stand with us in ensuring a just and stable future. The Swarthmore community recognizes this opportunity to align our investments with our values. Over 1,100 faculty and alumni, along with 970 students (61% of the student body), have signed a petition calling on the College's Board of Managers to divest from fossil fuels. Despite this, the Board has rejected this historic opportunity to show international leadership on climate. We cannot stand idly by as Mr. Niemczewski and Board Chair Gil Kemp continue to prevent the Board of Managers from responding to the mandate from the Swarthmore community to align our investments with our values.
As a result of the sit-in, the Board of Managers announced that they would put fossil fuel divestment on the agenda at the May board meeting--but students said that wasn't enough. "While this is a major victory for our campaign, we are continuing to sit-in to call for the Board to reopen dialogue with us because we need to ensure that divestment will be seriously considered in May, and that the Board is committed to seizing the historic opportunity that we have before us," Erika Weiskopf, a sophomore and sit-in organizer, said in March.
Now, according to Tuesday's Philadelphia Inquirer, the Board has stated it will "engage" with the students leading up to its decision on divestment on May 1 and 2. The Board has said that it will specifically consider the students' four-point divestment proposal.
In addition, the Swarthmore faculty voted Friday to support the student demands, urging the Board to "announce divestment from the 200 Fossil Free Index companies in separately managed funds, with reinvestment in energy efficiency and renewables."
And late last week, Swarthmore alumni delivered 360 pledges to withhold donations until the Board commits to fossil fuel divestment, along with 1,083 petition signatures and over a hundred letters calling for divestment to the alumni office.
"If Swarthmore divests loudly and boldly, many other colleges and universities will take notice," the alumni wrote in an open letter published Thursday.
In a message posted at the group's Facebook page on Tuesday afternoon, Swarthmore Mountain Justice announced the end of the sit-in and thanked the "hundreds of students, faculty, alumni, and community members who joined us for the longest sit-in in the divestment movement's history. We made it clear #whoseside the Swarthmore College community is on."
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
The longest and largest ever sit-in for fossil fuel divestment ended on Monday, after Swarthmore College students secured two major victories--a commitment from the institution's Board of Managers to engage in dialogue over pulling its holdings from oil, gas, and coal companies, and a faculty resolution formally recommending divestment.
About 175 students slept and studied for 32 days in Parrish Hall, where the Pennsylvania college's administrative offices are housed. The action was part of an ongoing 'Divestment Spring' that's sweeping campuses across the country, from Harvard University to the University of California system. Swarthmore is considered the birthplace of the fossil fuel divestment movement.
"If Swarthmore divests loudly and boldly, many other colleges and universities will take notice."
--Swarthmore College alumni
In a statement announcing the sit-in on March 16, the student group Swarthmore Mountain Justice declared:
We are calling on our college--the very institution tasked with preparing us for the future--to stand with us in ensuring a just and stable future. The Swarthmore community recognizes this opportunity to align our investments with our values. Over 1,100 faculty and alumni, along with 970 students (61% of the student body), have signed a petition calling on the College's Board of Managers to divest from fossil fuels. Despite this, the Board has rejected this historic opportunity to show international leadership on climate. We cannot stand idly by as Mr. Niemczewski and Board Chair Gil Kemp continue to prevent the Board of Managers from responding to the mandate from the Swarthmore community to align our investments with our values.
As a result of the sit-in, the Board of Managers announced that they would put fossil fuel divestment on the agenda at the May board meeting--but students said that wasn't enough. "While this is a major victory for our campaign, we are continuing to sit-in to call for the Board to reopen dialogue with us because we need to ensure that divestment will be seriously considered in May, and that the Board is committed to seizing the historic opportunity that we have before us," Erika Weiskopf, a sophomore and sit-in organizer, said in March.
Now, according to Tuesday's Philadelphia Inquirer, the Board has stated it will "engage" with the students leading up to its decision on divestment on May 1 and 2. The Board has said that it will specifically consider the students' four-point divestment proposal.
In addition, the Swarthmore faculty voted Friday to support the student demands, urging the Board to "announce divestment from the 200 Fossil Free Index companies in separately managed funds, with reinvestment in energy efficiency and renewables."
And late last week, Swarthmore alumni delivered 360 pledges to withhold donations until the Board commits to fossil fuel divestment, along with 1,083 petition signatures and over a hundred letters calling for divestment to the alumni office.
"If Swarthmore divests loudly and boldly, many other colleges and universities will take notice," the alumni wrote in an open letter published Thursday.
In a message posted at the group's Facebook page on Tuesday afternoon, Swarthmore Mountain Justice announced the end of the sit-in and thanked the "hundreds of students, faculty, alumni, and community members who joined us for the longest sit-in in the divestment movement's history. We made it clear #whoseside the Swarthmore College community is on."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy