Dear Chancellor Subbaswamy,

We are reaching out to you, as members of the UMass Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign, to ask
that you stand with us, and lead with us. In this Springs welcome video, you shared that
hearing student voices is vital to shaping the universitys future, and that student activism
does make a valuable difference. We were excited to see our campaigns victory addressed, and
thank and commend you for your acknowledgement of our work and its importance. Now we are
asking you to take this support further.
We have been asking the Board of Trustees for over three years to divest from the top 200
publicly traded fossil fuel companies, and reinvest those funds into socially just, sustainable, and
equitable organizations, infrastructure, and portfolios. We no longer have time to wait for this
ask to be addressed, and must act with the urgency the climate crisis necessitates. We recently
asked again for Chairman Woolridge and President Meehan to stand on the right side of history,
to commit to full divestment, to lead with us. In our formal proposal, outlined in the additional
attachment, we ask for this commitment by the close of business on April 13th, 2016. We are
calling on you to represent this campus, a campus that you have shown values the voice of
students and the prospect of a sustainable future, and carry this message of urgency to the Board
of Trustees.
In warm regards,
The UMass Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign

TheUniversityofMassachusettsFossilFuelDivestmentCampaign,asperourformalaskaspresentedto
theSociallyResponsibleInvestmentAdvisoryCommittee,iscallingontheBoardofTrusteestoformally
committoacompletedivestmentofthetop200fossilfuelcompaniesaccordingtoCarbonTrackerby
closeofbusinesson
April13,2016
.Theformalaskofthecampaignisasfollows:

April13,2016
Aformalcommitmenttofulldivestmentofthetop200fossilfuelcompaniesaccordingtoCarbon
Tracker1aswellasaformalcommitmenttoworkwithDivestUMassandotherapplicablepartiestocraft
acomprehensivedivestmentandreinvestmentplan.

June1,2016June1,2021
Theformalreleaseandimplementationofthedivestmentandreinvestmentplan.TheUMassFossilFuel
DivestmentCampaignrequeststhatthefollowingelementsbeintegratedintothecomprehensiveplan
releasedonJune1st:

TheestablishmentofaSociallyResponsibleReinvestmentCommitteewhosesoledirectivewouldbethe
implementationofthedivestmentandreinvestmentplan.Thiscommitteewouldconsistoftrustees,a
minimumofonestudenttrustee,andaminimumoftwoDivestUMasscampaignmembers,allofwhom
wouldholdvotingstatus.

DivestmentoftheUMassFoundationendowment,aswellasreinvestment,followingafiveyeartimeline,
with20%ofapplicablemoniesbeingdivestedeachyearuntilfulldivestmentisreachedin2021.

Reinvestmentofaminimumof5%(1%eachyear)ofdivestedfunds
specifically
intotheFinancial
Cooperative,aninvestmentfundofferedbyTheWorkingWorld2 .Thiselevenyearoldfunduses
nonextractivemeanstoinvestdirectlyincommunityandworkerownedenterprises,andhasneverhada
losingyearsinceitsformation.

RemainingfundsreinvestedaccordingtotheRegenerativeEconomyValues.Theremainingfundsofthe
divestedendowmentwouldbereinvestedinaccordancetotheRegenerativeEconomyValues,asetof
principlesforinvestmentcreatedbytheRegenerativeFinancegroup,theClimateJusticeAlliance,and
MovementGeneration.Reinvestmentoffundswouldalsoconsiderthefosteringofpartnershipswith
organizationsinthelocalandregionalareasofMassachusetts.OnesuchorganizationistheCenterfor
EconomicDemocracy,anorganizationbasedinBostonwhosemissionistocreateamoresustainableand
democraticeconomy.Theselocalpartnershipswouldnotbelimitedtoinvestment,butwouldalsobe
collaborationstofundlocalandregionalcapitalprojectsandcommunitybuildinginitiatives.

1
2

http://fossilfreeindexes.com/research/thecarbonunderground/
http://www.theworkingworld.org/us/