<r Mr. Vice President and Treasurer Rogers,
After being unable to reach you via email fall term, we are again attempting to contact you with this open letter. The situation in Darfur particularly, and Sudan generally, has not improved since then. In fact, with the recent International Criminal Court warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s arrest, humanitarian aid agencies have been kicked out of Sudan and the situation is deteriorating more rapidly than ever.
Therefore, there is a growing interest among the student body to stop the influx of money into Khartoum, money which is used to fund the atrocities being committed in the Darfur region and in eastern Chad. Many of us do not want to see Carleton College lagging behind the 61 American colleges and universities, 18 countries and 27 states that have already adopted a morally responsible investment policy.
Attached is an Excel document from http://www.sudandivestment.org/ with a current list of companies contributing to the conflict. The list generally changes every month as companies under pressure to change their business do so.
As a first step, we would like to know whether or not Carleton is invested in any of the companies listed in the attached document, all of whom practically finance genocide. If so, we urge that a discussion on the ethical and financial aspects of such investments be started, with the hope that these discussions will result in the school divesting from these companies. We envision that the next step is a statement of commitment: that Carleton shall never invest in genocide.
We look forward to cooperating with you and with the board of trustees to reach a decision that will best represent the values and norms of Carleton College.
Thank you,
Isaac Hodes, Whitney Hough, Moshe Lavi
STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition, Carleton Chapter
Divestment Committee
To get involved with Divestment or STAND, please contact hodesh or lavim
-Isaac Hodes is a first-year student, Whitney Hough is a fourth-year student, and Moshe Lavi is a second-year student