GREENWICH VILLAGE — New York University's Board of Trustees last week rejected a push by faculty and student activists to divest the school's endowment from fossil fuel companies.
The University Senate last year recommended no future investments in such companies because of the role fossil fuels play in climate change. Earlier this year, student activists occupied a library elevator in protest of the "lack of transparency and accountability" in the university's investment decisions.
In an email sent to the entire university community, NYU President Andrew Hamilton and Board of Trustees Chairman William Berkley wrote that they "do not support NYU using its endowment as a tool for simply making statements."
They also called out what they viewed as potential hypocrisy.
"It seems disingenuous for NYU to, on the one hand, deem the fossil fuel industry morally reprehensible — the clear implication of a decision to divest — while on the other hand continue to regularly and willingly use their products to power and heat our campus and to transport our students and faculty (albeit in ways that are more efficient and less carbon intensive than in the past)," they wrote.
NYU has several "green" initiatives, and, having already reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent, is aiming to get to 50 percent by the end of 2025.
Hamilton and Berkley argued both that many fossil fuel companies "are major investors in alternative energy research and ventures" and that given the school's "low per-student endowment," it would be harmful to the school to limit their "ability to seek out the best long-term investment opportunities for the endowment."
Student activists pushing for divestment expressed suspicion over the university's closed-door process.
“We remain disturbed that this decision occurred during a closed meeting that didn’t necessarily include a vote from the full Board, but rather a handful of members of the Investment Committee, on a date the university was not previously informed of, with no student or faculty participation," said Olivia Rich, a student member of NYU Divest. "We would be very interested in finding out more about how this decision was actually made."
