Update on the Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility
A Message from Dr. Donna E. Shalala, Interim President
Last week I announced the reactivation of the university’s Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility (ACIR). The ACIR has launched and advanced their work and I have already received what they have developed. You will see below the outline of their work.
I have continued to try to carefully listen to the community and to reflect the values of social justice and engagement that are so deeply embedded in our culture. I have heard your calls for more involvement in how the endowment is structured and to codify the mechanisms to consider social concerns, responsibilities, and principles about our investments.
In response to these concerns, as well as those raised by the University’s Faculty, Student, and Staff Senates, the ACIR is now a permanent university committee, composed of representatives put forward by the Senates. In addition, to encourage effective activism by members of our community, The New School will begin offering a three credit course this fall on Socially Responsible Investment: Theory and Practice. The course will be open to all members of the community at no charge.
I have consulted with the Chair of the Investment Committee and the Chair of the Board of Trustees and they have reaffirmed the ACIR as a permanent committee, agreed to have the Chair of the ACIR, Professor Teresa Ghilarducci, present at the next meeting of the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees, and affirmed that they will work with the ACIR regarding its proposals.
Through the permanent existence of the ACIR and the embedding of this commitment into the curriculum, we have created a path forward for engaging our community. I am grateful to those who have contributed to this.
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To: President Donna E. Shalala and The New School University Community
From: Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility (ACIR)
Subject: University Endowment: Transparency, Alignment, Education and Timetable
Date: May 16, 2024
The newly formed Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility (ACIR) was reestablished by President Shalala to provide guidance on aligning our trust investment practices with the university’s mission in the wake of recent divestment resolutions from student, staff, and faculty of The New School community.
We have heard the community. Our core mission is to engage in deliberative dialogue to address investment concerns of the community and calls for ethical investment practices that uphold human rights.
We made progress in establishing a fiduciarily-responsible process when The New School implemented a path to divest from fossil fuel companies. The Board of Trustees has, in the past, ensured our endowment is invested in a manner consistent with our core mission and values, including our intergenerational responsibility.
A Transparent and Inclusive Process
The ACIR is committed to a transparent, fact-based process that incorporates input from all stakeholders across our community.
The ACIR will engage with stakeholder groups to understand and work in collaboration to develop the principles and guidelines.
We will produce a research list informed by student, faculty, and staff resolutions of holdings and potential holdings involved in certain industries for the consultant, hired by the university, to analyze.
We have already examined 11 companies informed by the resolutions from the three Senates and other groups and have found they constitute a combined approximate allocation of just 0.07%. (Historically this amount would have been considered by the ACIR’s standards to be divested.)
We will thoroughly examine the ethical implications and financial impacts of developing an investment policy that upholds our principles while preserving our ability to support vital academic initiatives in making our recommendations.
The ACIR agrees to work towards helping the Board of Trustees sub-committee manage the investments in accordance with the Institutional Procedures for Investment Responsibility and the University’s Investment Policy Statement.
We propose the following steps to establish a process that permanently achieves moral alignment, transparency, and education.
1. We propose to the President that the ACIR become a permanent committee that advises The New School Board’s Investment Committee on strategies to monitor and align the endowment investments with the mission of The New School in keeping with Board of Trustees’ fiduciary duty to responsibly invest the endowment.
2. We propose the Board of Trustees commit to a deliberate and careful process that leads to an ecosystem of transparency that involves regular meetings with the ACIR and regular reporting to the university community about the endowment’s investment portfolio and proxy-voting activity.
3. We propose the Board of Trustees Investment Committee engage in a process to explore reasonable and proven strategies to align investments with the university’s mission. Activist investment tactics have evolved over the last 40 years. Divestment is one of the oldest tactics, newer tactics require across institution communication and strategic shareholder activism. The New School should consider membership and communication in activist coalitions such as the Council of Institutional Investors and be in regular communication with American Friends Service Committee, and other appropriate organizations.
Fulfilling our Educational Mission and A Robust Investment Engagement
4. We propose the University offer a complimentary 3 credit course to all members of the community each year on “Investment and Financial Activism for The Social Good” which would include the history of divestment, boycotts, and shareholder activism; the basics of finance and investments.
Timeline
We propose that the President and the Board of Trustees agree to our proposals immediately.
We aim to be on the agenda with these ACIR proposals as soon as possible for an Investment Committee meeting of the Board of Trustees.
We aim to communicate, with concurrence from the university, available information on holdings of the university endowment, as soon as possible—targeting this summer.
We aim to continually communicate to the community on a quarterly basis any changes in endowment and proxy voting activities.
We will share regular progress updates and opportunities for community engagement as our work advances.
By proactively aligning our investment portfolio with the ideals we uphold as an academic institution, we reinforce our values through our actions. We have an opportunity to join the vanguard of universities modeling ethical leadership on a national stage.
We are open to the community for continuing conversation. Please contact us at ACIR@newschool.edu.