Senate re-evalulates responsible investing

While Oberlin College may be purchasing sweatshop-free clothing, some students still question its investment policies.

Student Senate met on Oct. 10 for its second open meeting this semester to discuss socially responsible investment. Laura Wimberly, a college senior and chair of the Oberlin Peace Activist League, who co-authored a proposal on the subject with other members of OPAL, presented a proposal on the subject,

The proposal would survey the student body "to measure student opinion on whether the College should apply social screens to its investments." The survey would also be given to faculty and alumni.

"[The survey] is the first stage of this process," said Wimberly.

After the survey is taken, Wimberly will take the information to the Trustees Investment and Shareholder Responsibility Committees as a measure of student interest in socially responsible investment.

Wimberly hopes that interest coming from both students and faculty will be enough to convince the IC and SRC to invest the College's money in a socially responsible fashion. Currently the College's stock portfolio is diverse and changes daily.

Socially responsible investing began in the early 20th century as a means to keep institutions in line with their core missions. Objectionable firms would be eliminated as investment possibilities, a process known as screening. Possible corporations that would be screened out include those that own nuclear power plants, military contractors and corporations that test products on animals.

According to information gathered by Wimberly, socially responsible investing would be a profitable venture for the College.

The proposal received much positive input and will come back to the Senate after some revisions are made. Senate also passed several charters and approved two students to sit on the honor committee.