On Tuesday, April 12, about thirty protestors gathered outside of the Boston Federal Reserve building, home of the Harvard Management Company, singing of the rising tides of climate change. The protestors, dressed in orange and holding painted signs, shouted familiar chants for justice and unfurled umbrellas emblazoned with the words “Fossil Free HMC.” Four students—three graduate students and an undergraduate—entered the building to protest in the lobby, later to be arrested. The event was organized by Divest Harvard in an effort to bring attention to the continued investment of Harvard’s endowment in fossil fuel companies, a fight that has been quiet on campus this year but nonetheless of utmost importance.
Divest Protesters in front of the Boston Federal Reserve
Harvard Management Co., though not responsible for decisions regarding the use of the endowment, is the entity that manages it on a day-to-day basis. The protest’s first speaker, Kelsey Skaggs, a student at Harvard Law School and active member of Divest Harvard, called attention to HMC’s use of Harvard’s endowment to rescue struggling fossil fuel companies. Harvard is an anchor investor in the new Mountain Capital Management firm, which invests in distressed oil and natural gas production and exploration companies that need restructuring or recapitalization.
The importance of Divest’s cause is perhaps best illuminated by the participation of not only Harvard students but community members of different ages and from different walks of life. The protest saw participation from Divest Harvard members—both graduate and undergraduate—as well as from other groups, both on and off campus. Representatives from Veterans for Peace attended and Harvard’s Student Labor Action Movement (SLAM) sent members in solidarity with Divest Harvard. According to Harvard undergraduate and Divest member Isa Flores-Jones, such collaboration is indicative of the importance of the Divest movement beyond Harvard itself. “It It is the collaborative nature of the protest that underlines its greatest strength: this is a movement not by Harvard College students but by the world, for the world. Divest Harvard is a fight that stretches beyond Harvard University—a fundamental fact that the administration seems to miss.
Divest Harvard stands against the administration’s policy that it will not divest from fossil fuels. President Faust claims that divesting would be politicizing the endowment, but Divest members argue that not divesting is an equally political decision. While Faust argues that Harvard’s divestment would do nothing to the fossil fuel industry, Divest believes that, no matter the impact of the economic decision to divest, Harvard’s divestment should be a moral decision, one that can then spread and cause a ripple effect. Already, Divest Harvard is part of a network of divestment campaigns across the country. These movements are founded on the belief that climate change is the single most important issue for our generation and for future generations, and they refuse to stand by as their institutions not only condone but participate in investment in fossil fuels.
Faust’s concerns about the effectiveness of divestment echo a common refrain among skeptics. It is true that direct effects of divestment on the fossil fuel industry are likely to be minimal; the stock that universities give up would go to neutral investors instead. The exception to this rule is coal, from which Stanford divested last year, where there are fewer investors and divestment could make a direct impact. However, the indirect impact of divestment is far greater; the stigmatization of fossil fuel companies poses a long-term threat to the industry. It is for this that Divest Harvard is fighting. “I think that we have an enormous amount of clout and influence that should be exerted in a way that is beneficial,” Flores-Jones said. The same universality that is suggested by the collaborative protest is what lies at the moral foundation of Divest’s cause. Harvard is part of a bigger picture—in this we are not outliers but one of many who must take a stand.
It can be disheartening to fight for a campaign that does not have tangible results. Climate change often feels like a far-off concern, one that pales in comparison to the day-to-day of paper and problem sets. Divest holds, however, that climate change is the “single most important issue” of today, for our generation. With the backing of an institution of Harvard’s standing, the divestment movement could make a powerful moral push against the use of fossil fuels. “Our argument is that it’s kind of a moral position that Harvard taking a stance would be similar to its stance in earlier campaigns, such as apartheid divestment,” said Flores-Jones, “and that Harvard divesting, specifically Harvard, would send a message to other institutions that they should do the same. So it’s not just the impact of our particular endowment but this ripple effect that we hope to create.”
Already, Divest Harvard has clearly shown its ability to spread awareness and to bring in members of all communities. Last year, Divest’s Heat Week protests garnered the support of climate change organization 350.org and brought students and activists together outside of Mass Hall. Even smaller protests like that on April 12 brought together students from Harvard graduate students (particularly Harvard Law) and undergraduates in a unified front that is otherwise largely absent on Harvard’s campus. Incoming freshmen, even, are aware—to some extent—of the divestment movement; 37 percent of the Class of 2019 said they supported divestment before they even arrived on campus, while just 18 percent said they did not.
On April 12, Harvard students and allies were protesting outside of Boston’s Federal Reserve Building. Meanwhile, Yale’s Chief Investment Officer was announcing Yale’s decision to divest $10 million of its endowment from fossil fuels. With divestment from institutions like Yale and Stanford, the message grows ever more urgent: It is time to take this stand. Perhaps it will not radically change the world right away, but the fight against climate change will never be about radically changing the world overnight. Instead, it is about a ripple effect and communities coming together to fight for something that matters beyond individual concerns. Divest Harvard’s message is clear in its makeup: a strange mix of graduate and undergraduate, young and old, veterans and young college students. This is a fight for everyone.