EAC Lobbies Trustees for Fossil Fuel Divestment
Hoping to catch the attention of visiting PEA trustees and alumni alike, the Environmental Action Committee staged protests this past Thursday and Friday to advocate for the divestment of the Academy’s endowment from fossil fuels.Last Thursday, EAC protested outside of the trustees’ meeting site, the Phelps Science Center, during the Meetings block. Members waved signs and wore "Divest" t-shirts and buttons. On Friday, students sat inside the lobby of the science building and holding protest signs during their free periods."
"Divestment... the school can consider"
"EAC decided to organize the rally to let the trustees know that we are very concerned about climate change, and divestment may be one option the school can consider," Elizabeth Stevens, Sustainability Education Coordinator, said. "Earlier in the year, EAC sent a letter to Mr. Hassan and the trustees asking them to investigate into divesting from fossil fuel companies. Exeter would be joining a nationwide movement to put financial pressure on fossil fuel companies. Our school cannot claim to be a leader in sustainability when some portion of our endowment is supporting the record profit making companies that are wrecking our climate."
Julie Moon, senior and co-head of EAC, was inspired by a mass rally she attended in Portland, Maine protesting the Keystone Pipeline."There was so much adrenaline," Moon said. "It was really exciting. So we thought, ‘why not do a rally?’ Afterwards, I was thinking, ‘wow, Exeter doesn’t do this very often.’ Ms Stevens, who has been here for around thirteen years, said that kids have never really protested like that. You could feel it, because there were only twelve or fifteen of us protesting in front of Grainger. It was during Meetings, so everyone was either in grill or doing homework, and you could really feel that we were only so many people. It was kind of nerve-wracking."
The protest did not go unnoticed
During the protest on Thursday, Dean of Faculty Ron Kim came outside and spoke to the EAC members."Apparently we were loud enough that Mr. Kim came out and told us to quiet down, because the trustees were trying to have their meeting," Moon said. "We were standing right outside, and screaming so that they could hear us. When Mr. Kim came out, we started talking about why we’re doing what we’re doing. Mr. Kim said that he would make sure we didn’t go ignored."Kim spoke about his appreciation for EAC’s efforts. "I just told them that as a parent and a resident of this planet, I understood and share their concerns about the environment," Kim said. "I appreciate their views and their sense of urgency regarding climate change. I also told them that the trustees planned to respond to their concerns."After Kim spoke to the protesters, they moved inside to the lobby of the science center and protested quietly in there.
Statement from the trustees
The trustees responded to the protestors Saturday, writing a statement that Principal Tom Hassan emailed to all of Exeter’s faculty. They addressed the letter that Julie Moon and fellow EAC co-head upper Justin Landowne, had written to the trustees earlier in the year."Exeter’s Trustees are keenly aware that this is a multilayered matter and that it raises a number of uncertainties they will have to address in their deliberations," the statement reads. "These questions include but are not limited to: is there sufficient consensus among Trustees and the larger Academy community to consider such a significant action; would divestment actually have the impact of furthering clean environmental interests, or perhaps hinder them; is divestment feasible, given PEA’s diverse investment portfolio and numerous donor shareholders; and is divestment supportive of clean environmental interests? As the debate among people of good will at PEA and elsewhere has demonstrated, none of these issues have a clear resolution."The trustees also agreed to have a forum during their next visit in October 2013 to discuss divestment.
An important issue to EAC students
The students in EAC are happy with the results of their protest."By protesting in front of the trustees, we succeeded in letting them know how important this issue is to the students of Exeter," EAC member and protester, lower Jordan Cynewski, said. "Two of the trustees came out to speak to us about the importance of this issue, meaning the protest was not in vain. Hopefully, this is something they can vote on in the near future. There are plenty of other, more socially responsible ways for Exeter to make money, and I hope to see Exeter pursue them.""I want to thank the trustees and Mr. Hassan and Mr. Kim for being super supportive," Moon said. "Sometimes I suspect that this campus is pretty conservative, but seeing that the teachers were tolerant, and some were even supportive, it was encouraging. We’re still open to progress."