As an increasing number of college campuses begin to face scrutiny over the companies they choose to invest their massive endowment funds in, one Ivy League school seems to have made clear they will not tolerate excessive student demonstrations over their choices.
Last Friday, more than 40 Yale students staged a five hour sit-in protest in the lobby of the Yale Investments Office as a part of student efforts to shame Yale administrators into switching out investments from a number of companies.
Among the specific investment companies the students were targeting included those that profited from the fossil fuels, as well as companies with holdings in Puerto Rican debt. The event was co-organized by student groups Fossil Free Yale and Despierta Boricua, a Puerto Rican Student organization.
During their protest, approximately 50 people in total occupied the lobby of the Yale Investments Office, during which they read a list of demands for Yale administrators while also singing “We shall not be moved.” A separate larger group of students gathered outside the offices chanting “Cancel the debt” and Yale is complicit.”
At approximately 5 p.m., the students who were occupying the lobby were told that they needed to leave the building or face charges of trespassing since 5 p.m. is the normal closing time for the office. After refusing repeated requests by the administrators and members of the campus police department, the Yale Daily News says “forty-three students, two graduate students, two New Haven residents and one faculty member” were arrested for trespassing by the Yale Police Department.
While many students believed the rally to be an overall success, some expressed frustration at Yale’s apparent indifference to their concerns. One student went as far as to say that Yale was choosing to perpetuate “U.S. imperialism,” as well as “the destruction of the planet.”
“Yale, through its pursuit of profit over people and climate, perpetuates U.S. imperialism and the climate crisis,” said Tom Chu, a member of the undergraduate class of 2019. “We’re out here today – we were sitting in for five hours to call Yale’s attention to these things and to make it so Yale can no longer sit idly by and ignore all of the climate destruction and the violence that it is complicit in.”
Last week, students at Harvard University also tried to take action by mobilizing the entire campus to stand up and protest against Harvard’s holdings in companies that profit off fossil fuels. However not even 1 percent of the entire campus chose to sign their online petition.
John Patrick (@john_pat_rick) is a graduate of Canisius College and Georgia Southern University. He interned for Red Alert Politics during the summer of 2012 and has continued to contribute regularly.
