WHEREAS, an action in Cornell University’s 2010–2015 strategic plan is, “make environmental sustainability a guiding principle in the stewardship of the university’s facilities and resources and in assessments of its impact on the community and region;” and

WHEREAS, President Skorton has said in a February 15, 2013 interview, “as much as possible, within the limits of not hurting the campus, in terms of the returns � having the endowments invested in socially responsible ways is a really good idea;” and

WHEREAS, a consensus among scientists, including scientists at Cornell, indicates that anthropogenic climate change is occurring and significant action needs to be taken to minimize impacts in the next century; and

WHEREAS, Cornell has committed in the Climate Action Plan to reach carbon neutrality of the Ithaca campus by 2050; and

WHEREAS, the University’s sustainability efforts have earned a Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS) Gold rating; and

WHEREAS, the endowment of Cornell stood at $5.23 billion as of June 30th, 2012, one of the largest university endowments in the world, and

WHEREAS, there are established methods for creating a “Socially Responsible Investment” scheme that promote the use of long-term investments away from negative investments and toward investments that have social, environmental, or other benefit; and

WHEREAS, the GPSA acknowledges the complexities of managing a large endowment and the complexities of divesting from a particular economic sector like “fossil fuels;” and

WHEREAS, over 1,400 undergraduates at Cornell have signed a petition in support of divestment and the Student Assembly passed Resolution 32, which called on the university to divest from the fossil fuel industry, therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Graduate & Professional Student Assembly supports the action of the Student Assembly, and

RESOLVED, that the GPSA calls on the University to consider the endowment as a part of the goal for carbon neutrality by 2050 and to amend the Climate Action Plan to reflect this; and

RESOLVED, that by the end of fiscal year 2050, the endowment should be divested from direct holdings and commingled funds which contain securities related to fossil fuels, including but not limited to securities in companies whose major business includes the production, refining, distribution, combustion, or sale of fossil fuels; and

RESOLVED, that the University reinvest at least 30% of the divested amount into socially responsible investments, specifically into positively screened companies and commingled funds by 2050, and

RESOLVED, that the University maintain or decrease the net worth of fossil fuel related securities that it holds every subsequent fiscal year from the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013 ; and

RESOLVED, that the GPSA calls upon the University to provide annual updates on divestment and reinvestment to the Graduate & Professional Student Assembly and the Student Assembly and through the Climate Action Plan updates .

Respectfully submitted,

Rob Moore
Masters Voting Member

Mitch Paine
President, Graduate and Professional Student Assembly