Dr. Paul Joseph

The recent announcement of a partial divestment of the endowment from fossil fuels is a question of half-full vs half-empty. I would have liked to see the university do more including expanding the categories of fossil fuels to be sold past coal and tar sands to include oil and perhaps even natural gas. I also thought we should have expanded divestment beyond directly controlled funds to include commingled funds.

At the same time, the process was fair and some type of compromise between climate activists and university trustees was inevitable. We pushed as hard as we could but at some point you have to stop and agree to steps that everyone can live with.