Academy Trustees Unanimously Vote to Reject Divestment

After a week of deliberation, Exeter’s trustees have unanimously voted against divestment from fossil fuel companies.In a statement released Monday, the trustees officially rejected students’ proposal for divest- ment while also emphasizing Exeter’s “strong commitment to environmental sustainability and stewardship.”However, the statement also maintained that “divestment by school and college endowments would not provide an effective mechanism for impacting public policy, or addressing the complex issues surrounding climate change.”In addition, the trustees said that divestment would be “difficult and expensive and would likely have a negative impact on manager availability and investment returns,” due to the current approach used to invest the endowment—“providing capital to several outside fund managers.”“We have determined that it is not in the interest of PEA at this time to pursue divestment,” Head of Trustees Tom Hutton said.Principal Tom Hassan agreed with the trustees and reiterated the amount of thought and research that he and other administrators have put into the issue.“After much research and consultation with peer schools and industry experts, we have con- cluded, as have many other schools, that divest- ment is not the most effective way to mitigate our environmental impact at this time,” Hassan said.Hutton believes that through panels and StuCo conversations, the student body played an integral role in the trustees’ decision.Justin Landowne, co-head of Environmental Action Committee, disagreed with the assertion that Exeter is a “leader” of sustainability.“I am very disappointed with the Academy's perspective on sustainability,” Landowne said. “To claim we are a leader in environmental sustain- ability, in my opinion, isn't true. Other schools, such as Lawrenceville School with a large solar panel array, are doing far more for sustainability than Exeter is.”

Hutton hopes that students will be able to continue a sustainability movement, even though the school will not divest.“Other trustees and I have indicated that we believe PEA's greatest impact on any social is- sue, including this one, is through the impact of its extraordinary individuals,” Hutton said. “We hope that the students and the community deter- mine ways that PEA people can have an impact in the area of climate change and sustainability... which would be an intellectual impact, not the simple statement of divestment.”Elizabeth Stevens, Sustainability Education Coordinator, believed that this decision reflected the attitude of the trustees toward the issue of sus- tainability and climate change. “While I feel that the trustees are generally in support of sustain- ability initiatives, divestment is much too risky

of a prospect for them,” Stevens said. “I don't think the trustees feel the urgency of addressing climate change as much as I do.”Stevens said that EAC and other sustain- ability committees will continue their environ- mental campaigns at Exeter, focusing on carbon neutrality and other initiatives while putting the divestment campaign on hold. “I would hope that the school works toward being carbon neutral with the addition of more alternative energy sources, and the development of a climate adap- tation plan,” Stevens said. “I would also like to see more curricula that addresses sustainability, and the addition of a small farm to campus. The EAC is also looking to become politically active in stopping government subsidies to fossil fuel companies.”Hutton said that he and the trustees are also hesitant about pursuing carbon neutrality, as well. “First, carbon neutrality is not an absolute mea- sure. We can be carbon neutral, simply by pur- chasing forested land as an offset. This purchase does not help the world,” he said. “Secondly making commitments for something years in the future can have unanticipated consequences.”