Endowment Activism: How Students Can Move Big Money

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http://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/endowment-activism-how-students-can-move-big-money

Students are known for having an abundance of ideals, but not much money or power. But student organizations around the country are finding ways to put thousands, sometimes millions of dollars behind sustainable companies.

At Middlebury College, members of the school’s Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) club are working to guide the school’s $900 million dollar endowment towards more sustainable investments.

They’ve joined a growing number of other schools in invoking the kind of ownership rights seldom embraced by the left: the right to influence the world through the tools of Wall Street, using their role as investors to spur change in powerful corporations.

“Colleges have the opportunity to be leaders in socially responsible investing because we combine liberal ideals with a huge amount of money,” says Olivia Grugan, a Middlebury senior and president of the SRI club.