To the Editor:

Friday’s Sun includes an article, “Cornell CIO Charts Growth of the University Endowment,” that states “several students groups urged investment in sustainable businesses” in response to Cornell’s poor endowment-related grades in the 2008 College Sustainability Report Card. The group mentioned is the Sustainable Investments Coalition, a coalition of seven business and sustainability related groups on campus.

The proposal put forward by the Sustainable Investments Coalition is meant to address Cornell’s shareholder engagement practices, an issue completely separate from divestment. All shareholders, including Cornell, have the opportunity to influence the sustainability and social justice practices of that company they hold shares in — often in ways that increase the company’s profitability.

For example, at the encouragement of a shareholder resolution submitted by the New England Quaker Pooled Fund, Simon Malls (owner of the Mall of America and hundreds of other malls around the country) implemented many energy efficiency measures and reported saving more than 133 million kilowatt hours of energy — that is more energy than New York University uses in an entire year. Simon now embraces the idea and recently made public statements about how energy efficiency is a new competitive advantage for the company, saving money while contributing to a more sustainable world.

The Sustainable Investments Coalition believes Cornell can work to find economically beneficial ways to carry out our commitment to sustainability into managing our endowment and would like to see a permanent form of shareholder engagement, such as an engagement committee that advises the board of trustees on environmental and social shareholder resolutions. This committee, which would include students, faculty, administrators and alumni, would simply conduct research and making recommendations to the board, thereby allowing trustees to maintain full control of all investment decisions.

Katherine McEachern ’08, president, Sustainable Investments Coalition