When in April a group of Tufts students and alumni calling themselves Jumboleaks posted an out-of-date list of Tufts' direct financial holdings — information that was previously confidential — on the web, it appeared to be an example of unprecendented direct student involvement in the university's finances.
A student group unaffiliated with Jumboleaks, however, had been playing an active role in ensuring responsible investing at Tufts for years. Officially started in 2007, the Advisory Committee on Endowment Responsibility (ACER) currently functions as a group of three undergraduate students that advise the board on their financial decisions.
A tenuous beginning
Gabe Frumkin (LA '10) was instrumental in the founding of the ACER which, until this year, was known as the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility (ACSR).
As a freshman in 2006, he was involved with a group of students committed to anti-war activism.
According to Frumkin, the group, called the Tufts Coalition to Oppose War on Iraq, was interested in "taking the Tufts endowment, and all of the funds we invested in firms that profiteered from the war in Iraq, and moving those parts of the endowment elsewhere."
What ended up occuring was something with a much larger scope than the group had originally intended.
"We found a couple of other organizations interested in divestment causes … and it became this broader idea. Since there was this coalition of different organizations all concerned with where the endowment was, it made more sense to actually work to establish this group where there could be a dialogue on a multitude of issues," Frumkin said.
"One of the really nice things about the idea of the ACSR is that, overall, institutions change, organizations change, priorities and issues change, so having the ACSR rather than just working to divest from the initial campaign has preserved our ability to engage with the endowment," he said.
The ACSR became an official group in 2007, but its structure became something quite different than what its members had originally imagined.
"When we had initially envisioned it, part of what we came to value, and part of what we imagined it would be, was a forum for the community to interact with the endowment and the administration," Frumkin explained. "Instead of every single little group banging on the doors of Ballou trying to get their cause across, having the ACSR as a forum to suggest policy in a more constructive way would be really good for the university."
The group had proposed a 10-person committee comprised of undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and alumni. However, the Board of Trustees mandated that the group would be comprised of only three undergraduates.
There was some controversy regarding the Board's decision to trim down the committee. The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate and members of Students at Tufts for Investment Responsibility (STIR) worked to increase the membership and power of the ASCR and to scrap the nondisclosure agreement that the members had to sign before joining.
In February 2009, the Senate passed a resolution that called for expanded ASCR membership, greater responsibility and increased transparency.
This resolution cited similar groups at schools like Brandeis, Harvard, and Swarthmore, which, for the most part, have greater power and more transparency compared to the ASCR.
However, the administration did not grant the ASCR what the Senate had requested in its 2009 resolution, and it was established with the three-student format that also requires its members to sign a non-discolsure agreement that applies even after former members have graduated.
The group worked behind the scenes, meeting with the Board and Executive Vice President Patricia Campbell to ensure that a student voice was making its way into the university's investment decisions. It emerged last year with the JumboLeaks story, denying any involvement but providing a knowledgeble perspective on the leak.
Working toward a goal
Looking at the current workings of the investment group, Campbell, to whom the group reports, told the Daily in an email that she believes that the group is discharging the duties it has been charged with.
"In 2007 when the Board of Trustees first agreed to the creation of an Advisory Committee, their primary goal was that the Committee provide a learning opportunity for students," she said. "Members of the Committee have met with Trustees and made presentations at a Trustee Administration and Finance meeting. I believe the work of the Committee is achieving the Trustees' goal."
Despite some past tension, current ACER President, junior Kelsea Carlson, said that the group's relationship with the administration is a positive one.
"I think our biggest achievement has been establishing a good relationship with Patricia Campbell and the Board of Trustees," she said. "As undergraduates, it is a privilege that we can collaborate with them on investment strategies."
The ACER meets with Campbell several times every academic year to voice their observations and suggestions about Tufts' investments.
"We often present to her ideas we want to research or proposals we are thinking about pitching," Carlson said. "She advises us on how to proceed, and then if we create something she will bring in a Board member or another Tufts official to hear our pitch and give us feedback."
In the past, the ACER had access to the direct investments of the university and made recommendations about how Tufts would use its proxy vote when deciding on particular investment opportunities.
Tufts no longer holds any direct investments, however, a change that has had an impact on the structural organization of the ACER. In turn, the group has also refocused its goals.
"The goals of ACER are mainly to educate ourselves about the importance of environmental sustainability and how to present environmental sustainability as a key component in the Board of Trustee's investment decisions. We chose environmental sustainability because the feedback we received from the Board was that environmental issues were most likely universally agreed upon and the easiest way to persuade Tufts to invest responsibly," Carlson said.
Junior Marguerite Selvin, who is a member of the ACER currently studying abroad in Chile, told the Daily that although the focus of the group has shifted somewhat, the group has the same main objective.
"The end goals remain the same: to encourage responsible investing on the part of our administration while opening up dialogue and educating the student body about the importance of such investment procedures," she said.
Last semester, Selvin said, the ACER worked with STIR to successfully convince the Board of Trustees to invest $500,000 in a community bank.
"Investment in community banks is a decision that puts Tufts, as an institution, at the cutting edge of universities who champion responsible investment procedures," Selvin said.
According to Frumkin, this is a promising start, but he still believes that the ACER should to play a bigger role in investment decisions.
"I think that their successful recommendation of moving $500,000 to community banking is a really positive difference for Tufts in every way, and its success speaks very well of the ACSR," Frumkin said.
"I'm resoundingly supportive of what Tufts has done, but that is not to say that it has come close to doing as much as it could or should."
