It’s always nice to have at least some idea where the money is going. Or, in the case of most UVA students, where their parents’ money is going. Lately, this has proven to be the source of some concern to a group of UVA students who don’t want to see any of their families’ money invested in companies that do business in Sudan, or with the Sudanese government.
It’s a source of concern because, once that tuition check is written, it appears that where the money goes, nobody knows. UVA’s investments are managed by the University of Virginia Investment Management Corporation (UVIMCO). UVIMCO’s money managers are constantly buying and selling stocks and bonds. Thus, an up-to-date list of what UVA is invested in is nearly impossible to get. In other words, at any given moment, UVA may be invested in Darfur, or it may not.
According to University spokesperson Carol Wood, representatives from a group called Students Taking Action Now: Darfur met with UVA’s Chief Financial Officer, Leonard Sandridge, on May 10 to discuss the issue. Following his advice, STAND is sending a packet to members of the Board of Visitors outlining how STAND would like to see UVA handle the Darfur investment issue. STAND has also requested face time with the Board of Visitors in the fall to discuss the next course of action.
STAND’s divestment strategy follows the lead of other schools that have already had successful divestment campaigns, such as the University of California system, Dartmouth, Brown, Yale and Harvard. The goal is to get UVA to officially encourage UVIMCO’s money managers to either divest from international companies that do business in Sudan (if they are already invested), or to promise not to invest in such companies in the future.
Total divestment, however, is not the goal. According to Laura Harris, UVA’s divestment chair for STAND, the group only wants UVA to divest from companies that do the majority of their business with the government, most of which are oil and energy companies. If a company, however, is providing jobs and an economic backbone for the people of Sudan, STAND wants that company to remain solvent and healthy. The campaign has a list of companies that do business with Sudan that includes Hyundai, Gulf Petroleum Company, Siemens and the China National Petroleum Company. —Nell Boeschenstein
