Please consider signing this initiative to ensure the success of the ACSRI by supporting our request for the following two changes:

1. Increased student representation on the ACSRI

2. Mandatory disclosure of financial investments and contracts from WWU and the WWU Foundation to the ACSRI

Background information:

Last Spring, students protested Western Washington University’s complicity in genocide. Overnight, more than fifty tents appeared on Old Main’s lawn (a number that would only grow in the following days), and the cries of student activists echoed throughout the university. Over the course of the two-week encampment, rallies with hundreds of attendees were held, teach-ins were hosted, and a shared sense of grief and contempt brewed. Western had to change its ways, and the student body was going to make sure it happened on their terms. In order to ensure Western abides by their word, we need your help.

Coming out of the encampment, student negotiators won an agreement that included a new advisory committee for the WWU Board of Trustees (BOT). The Advisory Committee for Socially Responsible Investing (ACSRI) is tasked with developing a policy that will be used when the WWU Foundation is making investment decisions. This means the BOT will make recommendations regarding which companies Western continues to work with based on the decisions of the ACSRI.

Additionally, the BOT advises the Board of Directors (BOD) of the WWU Foundation for Alumni and Family. The Foundation is largely responsible for funding student scholarships and other academic initiatives on campus, and is funded in part through donors and alumni. Importantly, because the Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3), they are not held to the same investing standards as a public institution. That means that their investment portfolio is proprietary, meaning that they control where the money is invested (not the Foundation). This means the Foundation's finances are private and much harder to examine. We know that the Foundation manages their endowment through Russel Investments, and that the money meant to serve student's academic success is profited off weapons manufacturing and other unethical industries (e.g., BDS companies, fossil fuel companies).
This is not ok.

These are just a few reasons why it is necessary that the ACSRI functions effectively and swiftly, We need to begin analyzing Western's investments and contracts to ensure our education is not rooted in inequity, war profiteering, and the subjugation of other people.

We do not believe the BOT has designed the ACSRI to function in a just and equitable fashion. WE NEED YOUR HELP (students, alumni, faculty and staff) to make sure the ACSRI is set up for success. The ACSRI is set to be approved on October 18th, and we need your support on these initiatives before then so the BOT can see that they are not respecting the needs of the campus community they are tasked with serving.

Please consider signing this initiative to ensure the success of the ACSRI by supporting our request for the following two changes:

1. More student representation on the ACSRI.

The ACSRI (Advisory Committee for Socially Responsible Investing) is the first ever advisory committee to the WWU Board of Trustees, and it needs more student representation! The ACSRI is currently composed of:

2 faculty members, selected by the Faculty Senate

2 students, selected by the Associated Students

2 WWU-affiliated members (e.g., alumni, donors), including one representative from the WWU Foundation Board, nominated by the University President

1 representative from the Board of Trustees

1 member of WWU staff, nominated by the University President

As of right now, 4 of the 8 positions are directly nominated by the University President or Board of Trustees, which heavily sways representation to be in favor of the administration. This imbalance is unacceptable, especially when considering the the BOT ultimately is tasked with serving our campus community and STUDENT success. We ought to have a say in how our university raises money for OUR education.

We are asking for at least 3 student representatives in order to amplify student voices and balance the distribution of power on the committee. This is only ONE more than they initially planned to give us, and is a very simple ask for the BOT to approve in order to increase student representation.

2. Mandatory annual financial disclosure to the ACSRI for WWU and the WWU Foundation.

The draft charter for the ACSRI currently lacks a crucial component: mandatory financial disclosure. Without this, the ACSRI cannot properly evaluate the university’s investments and contracts to ensure they are "socially responsible" and align with our values. How can the committee assess potential conflicts of interest or unethical financial relationships if it doesn’t even have access to the relevant information? How can members of the campus community submit proposals for these relationships to be assessed if that information remains private and hidden from scrutiny?

We believe that transparency is essential for the ACSRI to fulfill its mission of ensuring that WWU’s investments and contracts are ethically sound, but without this transparency the ACSRI is being set up to fail.

We are asking for mandatory annual financial disclosure to the ACSRI from both WWU and the WWU Foundation.