We started a fossil fuel divestment campaign at our alma mater, Tufts University, back in 2012. We’re not celebrating their recent decision to ‘divest’ from coal and tar sands companies.
Tufts University educated us well enough to know when we are being misled. In 2011, many students realized that their universities had portions of their endowments invested in the fossil fuel industry and launched the fossil fuel divestment movement to ensure that these institutions, including Tufts, did not fund, perpetuate and profit from the climate crisis. Students at Tufts have been calling for fossil fuel divestment for the past decade, and despite marketing that portrays Tufts as a beacon of environmental leadership and active citizenship, the university continues to contribute to the destruction of our planet through investments in fossil fuels.
To date, more than 1,300 institutions representing $14 trillion have divested from the fossil fuel industry, including almost 200 institutions of higher education. Ten years after the fossil fuel divestment movement started, there’s only one thing worse than remaining invested in climate destruction while preparing young people for their futures: remaining invested in fossil fuels and intentionally covering it up.
On Feb. 10, Tufts announced a decision to “prohibit direct investments in coal and tar sands companies as part of a multi-part commitment to advance sustainability and address the urgent crisis of climate change.” At no point does the statement mention how much money will be diverted out of the fossil fuel industry as a result of this ‘decision’ — likely because the number is zero. The reality? Tufts doesn’t have any direct investments in coal and tar sands companies, and it hasn’t for at least six years. Instead, it has millions of dollars invested in fossil fuel corporations through mutual funds. These investments will remain unchanged by this decision.
To its credit, Tufts has committed to invest $10 million to $25 million in positive impact funds related to climate change over the next five years, but this is just a tiny fraction of its $1.9 billion endowment. Despite this small, positive step, Tufts’ investment in oil and gas companies that are wrecking the planet continues. The university’s latest statement amounts to little more than an effort to greenwash its image. Yet the press around this announcement allows Tufts to reap the optics-based rewards of pretending to care about climate change and its moral responsibility to help avert it. The statement mentions that “The university joins a small number of U.S. colleges and universities with similar-sized endowments of approximately $2 billion or more to prohibit investments in coal and tar sands companies,” implying that with this decision, Tufts is demonstrating leadership. Tufts missed the opportunity to lead 10 years ago.
Tufts’ announcement followed recommendations of a responsible investment advisory group of students, staff and trustees. The group was formed after sustained campaigning from student organizers and is at least the second working group of its kind that Tufts has agreed to since the divestment campaign began. We, the writers of this piece, were a part of the first one in 2014. In 2015, they told us “no” outright, even after a three-day sit-in involving more than 30 students. In 2021, it appears that the administration has simply gotten better at greenwashing.
It is overwhelmingly clear that where there’s a will, there’s a way. Institutions like the $140 billion University of California school system have fully divested and New York’s $226 billion pension fund will be fully divested in the next few years. Unfortunately, at a time when fossil fuel divestment has never been easier, Tufts is doubling down on its fossil fuel investments, putting out a disingenuous announcement that sows confusion and making it harder for student organizers to build a popular narrative about the need for divestment.
Gaslighting students and the public while continuing to profit from the climate crisis is not only disappointing; it’s dangerous. Putting short-term profit motives ahead of climate action will cost lives and continue the destruction of our planet. Tufts should not capitalize on the political benefits of divestment when, in reality, they are abdicating enormous responsibility for their students’ well-being. As alumni, we call on Tufts to pursue full divestment, meaning no investments in fossil fuel stocks, either directly or through mutual funds. Tufts has the ability to do this, and we’ll celebrate the university once its words match its actions.
Tufts alumni Shana Gallagher (LA‘17) and Lila Kohrman-Glaser (LA‘15) and former Tufts student Daniel Jubelirer are founders of the campaign to divest Tufts from fossil fuels. They can be reached at shanag888@gmail.com, lila.kohrmanglaser@gmail.com and danjube@gmail.com.
