A recent piece in The Daily Orange on fossil fuel divestment glosses over a key fact: Syracuse University’s endowment has not experienced negative financial impacts from divesting because we didn’t have anything to divest of to begin with.

The article accurately notes that “(by) the time SU made a formal divestment announcement, the endowment already was not directly invested in any fossil fuel companies.” The university meanwhile continues to benefit from fossil fuel investments in co-mingled funds that have evaded changes to our investment policies. As any good student of Newhouse should note, the fact that divestment hasn’t negatively impacted the endowment should not – in a clever spin of facts — be declared a victory, but rather an example of how empty gestures receive equally lackluster results.

As an alumna of SU, I am proud that our university chose to listen to its students’ concerns and debate an issue that ultimately affects the strength of our scholarships, facilities and faculty. But it’s disingenuous to then claim to take action when there is none to take, and sends the wrong signal to universities facing real challenges like increased fund management fees and reduced portfolio diversification, among other losses, in choosing to divest.

As Harvard University Professor Robert Stavins states, “the divestment movement is fundamentally misguided…We should be focusing on actions that will make a real difference.” Instead of focusing on divestment, SU should focus on real, tangible ways to support the environment and our students.

Shannon Brushe

Class of ‘08