Original email sent: April 18, 2017 to approximately 180 faculty members at various units of Washington University in St Louis. Any and all faculty and staff of Washington University in St Louis - Medical School, Business School, Law School, Art and Architecture, School of Social Work – are all welcome to sign and circulate this petition. The option is to stand by quietly while the fossil fuel industry further dismantles efforts to protect public health and make decisions based on science.
Don't have time to read, sign the petition here: https://fossilfreewashu.wordpress.com/sign-the-petition/faculty-petition/.
Don't have time to read, sign the petition here: https://fossilfreewashu.wordpress.com/sign-the-petition/faculty-petition/.
April 18, 2017
Re: Support on WUSTL fossil fuel divestment effort
Dear colleagues,
A group of students approached me to spread the word to faculty to sign a petition asking the university to take steps toward divestment from fossil fuels. In these days of Trump, attacks on climate science, and the assault on the EPA, the rollback of commitments to climate agreements, and the virtual takeover of key government institutions by the fossil fuel industry, I think some action on the university level is timely.
Of course, climate is one issue among many that link our campus to the world – racism, immigration, inequality, public health, and so on. To act here is not to disregard those efforts, but to recognize, as the students do, their interconnectedness.
These student-led campaigns may not be of our choosing, but I think we are called upon to take a position that reflects our claim to teach and defend science, the public good, public health, and the environment in the classroom.
Students are asking the university to make our investments in questionable industries more transparent, and in this case, to divest from investments in the fossil fuel industry. They are asking faculty to sign a petition in support of this effort. I don’t think a sit-in is in the offing so you are not endorsing anything disruptive.
I recognize that signing petitions is seen by many colleagues as inappropriate or ineffectual, or both. Some are simply scared that it might negatively impact them. Some may happen to think that we should just keep burning fossil fuels forever. In this particular case, I hope that you can at least consider the gravity of this issue, among many others, and consider signing your name.
As with all campaigns, the demand that institutions divest from fossil fuels has its possibilities and limits. I won’t fill your inbox with the justifications. Suffice it to say that several top universities, including Stanford and Syracuse, have made some kind of step toward divestment. Divestment is not impossible, nor will it hurt the university (which, by the way did very poorly in its endowment performance last year, which may have something to do with the way it’s currently being managed). To say that divestment from fossil fuels is symbolic is to recognize why it is important.
You may have seen the student op-ed on this issue in today’s StudLife. Quite frankly, the Chancellor’s reaction to the students was a bit unsettling.
At any rate, here’s the petition, thanks for your time and consideration: https://fossilfreewashu.wordpress.com/sign-the-petition/faculty-petition/.
There is an option to sign anonymously.
If you aren’t interested, no worries, please forgive the intrusion and delete. If you want more information, see the students’ website (https://fossilfreewashu.wordpress.com), or let me know. And if you’re so moved, please pass this on as widely as you can.
Warm regards,
Bret Gustafson
Associate Professor of Anthropology
