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UNC Student Congress passes resolution in favor of coal divestment!
Just weeks after 77% of UNC’s student body voted in favor of coal divestment, our Student Congress has voted overwhelmingly in favor of divesting the university’s $2.1 billion endowment from the dirtiest, most carbon intensive coal mining and coal burning companies in the nation.
The 94th Student Congress of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as the elected legislative authority of the Student Government of the University, representing all of the 29,278 students of the student body expresses its support for UNC’s endowment divesting from coal companies.
Here is a link to the text of the UNC Student Congress resolution for coal divestment and the press release from the UNC Beyond Coal campaign applauding the resolution of support.
The resolution passed on Tuesday night by a 24-6 vote, which in addition to the referendum will send a strong message to the administration and the Board of Trustees that divestment and the bigger picture of climate change are issues that students at UNC are deeply concerned about and issues that the university must take action on immediately.
The referendum on the student ballot was significant, and it is encouraging to know that such a large percentage of the student body is supportive of the divestment campaign. But the support from Student Congress that we have received is even more significant, as they represent all 29,278 students at UNC Chapel Hill.
Since the results of the election last month were announced, the administration has been unresponsive to our requests to present at the UNC Board of Trustees meeting from March 27th-28th. The Board has no excuse to continue to ignore this issue, and should allow the UNC Sierra Student Coalition to make an educational presentation to them at the meeting. We hope that the resolution that was passed will place even more pressure on the university to divest. But whether we are able to make a presentation or not, we will be at the Board meeting in numbers, and we extend the invitation to all of you to join us. Can you bring a friend?
For more information about our campaign, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and check out our blog.
Cleans for Clean Air & Campaign Updates!
In preparation for the March 4th Day of Action, UNC’s Sierra Student Coalition hosted an event in the pit with Carolina Barbell on February 28th. Many people came out to do Clean lifts for clean air and to help support our campaign! This attracted a lot of attention. Even Ramses came out to do some cleans for clean air! We are very appreciative of Carolina Barbell for being at this event with us and making it all possible.
Also, a shout out to some of our members who attended the Forward On Climate Rally in Washington DC on February 17th, and to those who attended the Power Up! Convergence at Swarthmore in Pennsylvania February 22nd to the 24th. You can read more about the UNC Sierra Student Coalition’s involvement at Power Up! here.
Right now the campaign is currently in a waiting stage. We are hoping to be able to make a presentation at the Board of Trustees meeting at the end of the month, and are calling on them to allow us to do so. In our press conference on Valentine’s Day, we called on administrators to respond to our referendum, and to allow us to speak at the meeting, but have received no response thus far. You can check out the Daily Tar Heel’s article here, & a copy of the News Release is posted below:
UNC-Chapel Hill students call on endowment to divest from coal companies
Leaders ask for trustees, administrators to take serious action
Students at UNC-Chapel Hill used a successful referendum vote supporting coal divestment to rally their classmates at the Old Well on Thursday afternoon. Campus leaders called on administrators and trustees to divest UNC’s $2.1 billion endowment from the coal industry and allow students to officially present their proposal at the next Board of Trustees meeting.
“Students want UNC to divest from coal, the dirtiest and most carbon-intensive fossil fuel on the planet,” said UNC sophomore Jasmine Ruddy. “We don’t want our educations to be subsidized by investing in an industry that we know is wrecking the climate for future generations.”
On Tuesday, 77 percent of UNC students voted in favor of coal divestment in student body elections, with more than 4,200 students voting for the endowment to dump its coal holdings.
“Research shows that we can divest from the worst coal mining and coal-fired utility companies over the next few years without any real impact on investment returns,” said UNC first-year Anurag Angara. “Coal is an increasingly vulnerable industry and a financially risky investment, so UNC has no real basis for defending why it should keep coal in its portfolio.”
Students are concerned about coal because of its overwhelmingly negative cradle-to-grave impact on public health, environmental quality, global climate change and the U.S. economy. This campaign is part of a national student movement at more than 250 college and university campuses calling on their endowments to remove investments in coal and other fossil fuel industries that are hurting the planet, polluting our politics and driving climate change.
Press Conference Speakers:
- Jasmine Ruddy, UNC Sierra Student Coalition coordinator
- Madhu Vulimiri, UNC Campus Y development director
- Zach Bijesse, UNC Campus Y cabinet member
- Alanna Davis, N.C. Student Power Union member
- Anurag Angara, UNC Sierra Student Coalition coordinator
If you want a more day to day update of our campaign you can like our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/UNCDivestCoal
And, make sure to sign our petition!
-Tara Nattress
Referendum an overwhelming success! YES!
Today the UNC student body voted on a referendum attached to the ballot for student elections. An overwhelming 77% voted that they supported the UNC Sierra Student Coalition’s goal to get the university to divest their $2.1 billion endowment from the dirty coal industry.
This is similar to the referendum Harvard allowed their students to vote on, except at Harvard there was a 72% approval. This is a huge success for our campaign.
More to come on this topic later! We will be having a press conference addressing our success and what it means on Thursday, February 14th at 12:15 PM in front of the Old Well.
We voted YES!!!!! We’d like to thank the student body for supporting our campaign in such an influential way. This will hopefully grant our campaign the driving pressure we need in order to convince the administration of the need for divestment. The student body has spoken, will they listen?
-Tara Nattress
Extra, Extra, Read All About It!
Today we had two publications in the Daily Tar Heel, UNC’s campus newspaper. Both articles are located in the opinion section. The first is an Op-Ed by Media Coordinator Tara Nattress and Campus Y Co-President Jagir Patel. The article focuses on the rich history of UNC’s environmental campaigns, and how voting Yes to Divest on Feb. 12th will continue this tradition.
In order to vote you must log on to studentlife.unc.edu using your onyen any time from 8 AM to 8 PM next Tuesday.
The second publication is an LTE- “Attend teach-in on divestment” by Erin McAnulty of The Sierra Student Coalition, asking people to attend the teach-in at the Campus Y tomorrow at 6:30 in the Anne Queen Lounge. There will be FREE FOOD offered at this event, and a serving of information about our campaign.
Also, we have officially been endorsed by the UNC Young Democrats in an announcement that they made today via their email listserve.
Media hits abound!
-Tara Nattress
Campus Y Teach-In!
Check it out! Campus Y Teach In. Attendance would be awesome! It will be a wonderful opportunity to learn what Beyond Coal is all about, and what measures we are taking on campus. Plus, there’s free food! What more could you ask for?! Come on out on February 6th at 6:30 pm in the Campus Y and get excited!
Want more info on the Campus Y’s support for this campaign? “Campus Y Campaign – Make UNC’s Investments Fossil Free”
-Tara Nattress
Big Things Happening at UNC!
The past few weeks have been extremely busy in the UNC Beyond Coal campaign, and in the best, most exciting ways! We’re making great strides.
Last week, a coal divestment referendum was approved by Student Congress to be voted on by the UNC student body in elections on Feb. 12. This referendum will allow students to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as to whether or not they support our university divesting from coal. It will not hold the University accountable for the students’ decision, but it will raise the visibility of the issue and hopefully push them to divest from coal in the near future.
Just as exciting: we gained the endorsement of the Campus Y! As the biggest social justice organization on campus, the Campus Y took us on as one of their “Y Campaigns” for this semester. Our referendum campaign was also endorsed by UNC Young Democrats and two student body president candidates. Hopefully with so many big, influential and trusted organizations supporting us in our effort for environmental justice on our campus, we will eventually win this broader effort to bring sustainability to UNC’s endowment.
An article was also featured in The Daily Tar Heel online today about the referendum, our campaign, and our new supporters! We are very grateful to have such positive and supportive media attention drawn to us on campus. The article, written by the DTH’s Hunter Toro, says:
Anti-coal campaign makes headway
“The referendum, which will be on the Feb. 12 ballot, will gauge student opinion on endowment investment in coal in an effort to encourage administrative response to the subject.
“We wanted to do something that would give us more traction with the administrators,” said sophomore Jasmine Ruddy, the grassroots organizer for Beyond Coal. “That’s why we are using the referendum.”
Beyond Coal’s goal is to receive support for coal divestment — stopping the use of endowment funds for investing in coal-using companies. They are hoping for support from at least 50 percent of the student body with the referendum.”
“The University has an estimated $2.2 billion endowment to use at its discretion. As much as $100 million of that could be invested in the coal industry, Ruddy said.”
We would like to thank the DTH for their article, and their help in getting out the info about this referendum. If you want more information on the referendum, and how to vote on it (hopefully as a YES!) then check out our Facebook event, and say that you’ll Vote YES To Divest on February 12th!
Check out the SCR-94-162 Coal Divestment Referendum that was passed at UNC.
Section 1. The Board of Elections is hereby directed to place the following referendum on the 2013 Spring General Election ballot, presented exactly as follows:
“UNC-Chapel Hill has an endowment valued at $2.1 billion, which provides funding for University services such as scholarships and professorships. Currently, the UNC endowment includes investments in natural resources and energy, including coal.
UNC’s Sierra Student Coalition has been leading an effort on campus to divest UNC’s endowment from 15 major coal mining and coal-fired utility companies. More than 190 student-led groups at college campuses across the country are pushing their school’s endowments to divest from coal and other fossil fuel industries at this time.
Do you support UNC’s endowment removing its investments in coal over the next 5 years?”
The Board of Elections shall provide the options of “Yes” or “No” in response to the question on the ballot.”
Read our campaign fact sheet and talking points for more info.
-Tara Nattress
ENDOWMENT 101 Disappoints
Last night was the Endowment 101 Forum in Chapman hall. Chancellor Thorp and three other representatives held an open conference and lecture with students about what the endowment it, what it pays for, and how it is invested. While these individuals were more than happy to let students know what endowment money is used for, they were more reluctant to let students and various reporters know how that money is invested. But let’s start with a recap of what we learned at this endowment conference, from various powerpoint slides that the administration kindly put together for us.
“What are endowment funds?
-restricted gifts received from donors
-principal not expendable
-invested in perpetuity with an annual spending distribution to support the designated program”
This fund is a whopping 2.14 billion dollars. The 29th highest amount amongst all universities, and the 7th amongst public universities. This money received from donors to the school is invested in various stocks and bonds in different companies in order to earn income off of it. That income is then given to the programs which the donors are aiming to benefit. The overall objective which the panel repeated without fail is to preserve the real purchasing power of the endowment fund. Here’s the kicker though, with all this investing going on, the administration has found it too difficult to manage their stocks by themselves. They’ve hired UNC Management Company and over 100 different management firms to do this for them. This means, according to them, that “90% of the investment fund’s assets are invested in commingled funds”. They also stated that they have no control over this 90% once it is given to the management companies. 
So what does this mean? It means that people managing the portfolio at UNC have no control over where 90% of their money is going, or what companies it is supporting. The question began being raised by the audience over what this means we’re investing in. Are our investments socially responsible? Are these management companies screening their investments to ensure this? The answer was a blatant no. The panel made it clear that their only objective in investing these funds was to ensure their purchasing power in the market place. Therefore, they made it blatantly clear that money mattered more to them than their conscious, or what is morally right. They, of course, could not outline exactly which companies they invest in, and how many investments they have in each, arguing that this would be a breach of confidentiality agreements and that “no large university endowments are that transparent”.
When asked whether there are any restrictions on investments, the panel only seemed concerned again about making money, and preventing scandal. It was stated that “we’re not gonna do things that are gonna be irresponsible”; what, like investing in the fossil fuel industry, ruining the planet, causing immense health problems? No, they certainly contribute that. Chancellor Thorp even openly stated this, saying that he did not want to hide this fact from students. The Chancellor did state that “climate change is real and is caused by humans”, but then looked entirely hypocritical when he gave no interest to environmental ideas and solutions. When asked about divestment to solve this problem, the room was tense. The panel seemed unable, if not simply unwilling to make the effort to divest. They stated that “we would have to divest the whole endowment” and that the circumstances for divestment would have to “be pretty extraordinary. Divestment campaigns were called “hypocritical” in this light. On this sour note, the question was presented “Is there a possibility to have student input when money gets invested then?”. The answer to this was the most belittling and frustrating of the evening as Chancellor Thorp said: “We don’t need a student getting yelled at” if our investments don’t make money; “that’s not a good idea”. The only solution the panel seemed to be able to even comprehend was one of investing in more clean energy, but keeping our investments in the fossil fuel industry.
In short, the entire Beyond Coal campaign was spit on by the administration last night. Questions about divestment were wholly shot down. The administration had mixed comments on student involvement, stating that they wanted no student input, and then later stating that “we need to get together and figure out a way to move forward”. They seemed entirely uninterested in the socially responsible nature of their investments, and seemed to belittle the students who showed such earnest enthusiasm to the issue. Chancellor Thorp seemed to think he had given into enough student campaigns to effect change, and that he didn’t need to yield any more than he had. Everyone in the room, bar the panel, seemed to want to continue the conversation, and seemed upset and frustrated with the information presented to them in the endowment forum. The administration doesn’t want to effect change because they are making too much money, and it is easier for them to continue in socially harmful and irresponsible ways than to do something about it. We cannot truly call ourselves a sustainable and environmentally conscious university when we invest millions of dollars in an energy source that is destroying the planet, and our children’s futures. We will not stop our campaign in response to this. I think this was one of the administration’s aims. If anything, we are more fired up than ever. We will simply have to get more creative. As Jasmine Ruddy said last night, “Time to push the envelope”.
-Tara Nattress
Success at Board of Trustees Meeting
The Board of Trustees meeting on September 27th was a resounding success for the Sierra Student Coalition. About twenty members attended the meeting, and our yellow-clad presence at the Carolina Inn was impossible to ignore. Tait’s muffin-baking skills definitely contributed to our huge turnout, and it was amazing to see so much dedication and commitment at 8 in the morning.
We want to thank the amazing Dan Cannon, Greenpeace Student Network Coordinator, who visited on Tuesday and Wednesday to help us focus our objectives. Our strategic planning paid off, and we accomplished all four of our key goals:
1. I’ve already mentioned it, but it bears repeating: we had a huge turnout. Thanks to everyone who was able to come—your presence makes the difference.
2. Board of Trustees member Sallie Shuping Russell acknowledged the presence and power of the Beyond Coal Campaign. We appreciate her support, and are excited to cultivate a relationship with her as an ally.
3. On that note, we are in the process of setting up meetings with Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Winston Crisp, Budget Committee Chair Sallie Shuping Russell, and Vice Chancellor for Finance Karol Gray.
4. Finally, Chancellor Thorp confirmed that a forum on the endowment will be held this semester. In fact, it’s going to be on Monday, October 29th. After six months with no timeline, this is a huge victory for everyone who wants to see the University invest more responsibly and sustainably.
This is an exciting victory and we’re going to keep moving forward with new enthusiasm.
UNC at Chapel Hill – Moving “Beyond Coal” Beyond Traditional Activism
Just a quick update on some things we have done at UNC to kick some coal ash this past week:
Hosting a Student Body President Forum on Sustainability – ‘Beyond Coal ditches the hippie garb and wears a tie’
We hosted an open forum for our Student Body President candidates on Monday, Feb. 13. All three of the SBP candidates made an appearance to give us their pitch and field questions from leaders of different environmental organizations on campus. The questions were pointed, direct, and mostly from “Beyond Coal” members. Students asked questions about local transit initiatives, the renewal of UNC’s student green fee, and support for UNC’s new $500,000 Green Revolving Fund. But the majority of the discussion centered on UNC’s endowment, a testament to the fact that the Sierra Student Coalition has made UNC’s investment practices the #1 environmental issue on campus. Afterwards we released an endorsement to a reporter from the campus newspaper, outlining which candidate we felt most embodied our campaign’s ideals and supported our goals. Here’s an excerpt from The Daily Tar Heel article:
“The Sierra Student Coalition endorsed [Will] Leimenstoll after its forum Monday night.
Katie Orndahl, media coordinator for the group, said Leimenstoll had a strong environmental background and that a lot of his values align with the group’s campaign.
Orndahl added that the group almost chose [Tim] Longest because of his emphasis on transparency within the University, such as with the endowment.”
We succeeded in getting all three SBP hopefuls to say publicly that they question the University’s investment policy and, if elected, will take steps to increase the transparency and social, ethical and environmental responsibility of our investments. As the campaign’s coalitions coordinator Stewart Boss pointed out this week in a Letter to the Editor in the campus newspaper, SBPs have often chosen to highlight the endowment in their platforms without following through during their term.
UNC has an institutional mission “of leading change to improve society and to help solve the world’s greatest problems.” UNC’s investments cannot continue to be the exception to that rule, and — regardless of Tuesday’s winner — future student body presidents should commit to addressing these endowment issues.
Now that we have all the candidates on record supporting efforts to seriously address these issues, we can hold them accountable in the year ahead. The candidate that we endorsed, Will Leimenstoll, took the lead in the race to become UNC’s next Student Body President on Tuesday night with 47% of the vote – 20% more than either of the other candidates. He now moves on to the runoff election as the clear frontrunner.
“Beyond Coal” Open-Mic Poetry Night Event with UNC Wordsmiths – Beyond Coal gets in touch with its sensitive side
The Sierra Student Coalition partnered with one of the best poetry groups on campus, UNC Wordsmiths, to co-host an Open-Mic Poetry Night at the Bull’s Head Bookshop on Wednesday, Feb. 15. There was free coffee from the Daily Grind, plus lots of snapping, coal-dissing, and poetry-spitting. We hung our banner behind the poets to help get our message out, and we gave away some bright yellow Beyond Coal T-shirts and SSC buttons to any poet that volunteered to perform. I served as the MC for the evening, and I was able to tell some jokes, put out some hard facts about dirty coal, and perform some coal-themed haikus for the crowd in between acts. For your reading pleasure, here’s a sampling:
Coal, a dirty fuel
Without it, we could prosper
But, there’s cash involved
Coal and Poetry
Two words that don’t really rhyme
Good, it’s a Haiku
Once a cold fire gem
Now fired hot to make steam
Dirty, two-faced coal
It was a wildly successful event that gave our coal divestment campaign the opportunity to reach a portion of the student body that we don’t get to interact with often enough. Moving UNC beyond coal is not just about protests and rallies and organizing, it’s also about creativity and culture and creating a broader social movement to shift us away from dirty energy.
If only a haiku could save the world…
Tait Chandler disses coal at the Beyond Coal/Wordsmiths Open Mic Night
Next week, we’ve got an event planned with Appalachian Voices to talk about their new “Red, White & Water” campaign to highlight recent attacks on the federal Clean Water Act and the different ways that mining, burning, and disposing of dirty coal threatens our water supply. North Carolina is home to 12 high hazard coal ash ponds (more than any other state), and North Carolina regulators announced last month that the groundwater at all 14 of our state’s coal-fired power plants run by Duke Energy and Progress Energy contains higher than normal levels of heavy metals.
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