Coalition for a Responsible Vanderbilt


Join the email list!


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Victoria Clodfelter
(314) 799-7876
contact@responsiblevandy.org

Vanderbilt University Students Occupy Administration Building

Nashville, TN — At 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 9th, 50 student organizers, 4 professors, and other community members marched into Kirkland Hall and held a teach-in in front of the Chancellor’s office to protest university investment practices. The demonstrators demanded a public commitment to withhold future investment in two companies, EMVest and HEI Hospitality, and a structural reform to the system which led to these investments.

Vanderbilt University has neither written ethical guidelines, nor an ethical review committee like peer Ivy institutions, nor does it disclose fund allocation. “There is no more accountability today, and even less transparency than there was when Vanderbilt made investments in South African companies under Apartheid and refused to divest,” said Zach Blume, one of the protestors and a member of Vanderbilt Students of Nonviolence, “To us that is just unacceptable.”

In June 2010, The Guardian published an expose revealing Vanderbilt and Harvard Universities’ investment in a company, EMVest, which was aquiring massive tracts of land from subsistence farming communities in subsaharan Africa--a practice termed “land grabbing.” The company has also been accused by villagers (in two reports, by The Oakland Institute, California and UNAC, Mozambique) of other unethical practices including coercively acquiring that land, lying in public documents, and mistreating workers. According to The Oakland Institute, the village chief stated, “Villagers were more able to feed their families before EMVest took over their land.”  Since August, students have been demanding the University commit to not reinvest in EMVest.

Vanderbilt is also invested in HEI Hospitality, whose business is buying up hotels, & ‘slimming’ operations. Workers have been fighting for a fair process to choose whether to unionize in these hotels for years, with students fighting in solidarity. Since 2006, students have demanded that Vanderbilt not reinvest, but the administration would not publicly even confirm the investment.

In December, Mr. Wright privately confirmed the investment to students, but said that his office decided to not reinvest in 2008, thus keeping the decision a secret for years. This statement makes Vanderbilt the 5th university to respond regarding their investments in HEI and their plans about future investments in HEI. It follows Yale’s landmark decision to withhold further investment; previously Yale invested over 120 million dollars in HEI. “Vanderbilt needs to be a transparent place. This secrecy is unacceptable,” said Sebastian Rogers, a Vanderbilt Ingram Scholar, “Vanderbilt must immediately make this commitment public like peer institutions, and reform its investment practices.”

The teach-in focused on the secretive practices of the administration and explored ways to hold the administration to Vanderbilt University’s stated values of honesty and accountability. “All we’re asking is that Vanderbilt live up to its own ideals," said Chelsea Lunn, one of the protestors, “We want a socially responsible Vanderbilt that utilizes all its resources to empower, not exploit others."


Click to view the letter delivered to the Chancellor.


Endorsements for divestment

Student Groups

  1. More than 300 individual petitioners
  2. Vanderbilt Students of Nonviolence (VSN)
  3. Vanderbilt Campaign for Fair Food (VCFF)
  4. African Students Union (ASU)
  5. Black Students Alliance (BSA)
  6. SPEAR (enviromental)

Faculty

  1. Dr. Lucius Outlaw, Philosophy & African American Disapora Studies
  2. Dr. Theresa Goddu, Director of the Sustainability Project; English

Email us at contact@responsiblevandy.org if you'd like to be added to this list, or have other concerns.