Spring 2007 Alumnae Quarterly Web Extra
Making Money Work
Students Pilot Socially Responsible Investing Group at MHC
By Shoshana Walter ’07
In 1985, the trustees of Mount Holyoke College voted to divest $14 million from companies that did business in apartheid-ridden South Africa. It was a move heavily motivated by the passion and activism of Mount Holyoke students. Years later, students continue to fight for social justice through investing. Currently, the student-led Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Committee is focused on investing, not divesting, in the surrounding community. The committee was started by a group of students in 2003, and became an official college committee in 2005. The students faced rejection and a lot of hard work before they gained the support of the trustees. Claudia Calhoun ’05, one of the original student members, remembers the group’s first meeting with the investment committee of the trustees in fall 2003. “Liz and I were both in suits for the first time in our lives,” she said. The students were told they would be treated as professionals. In return they received a ton of investment questions which they didn’t quite know how to answer. “We were totally unprepared,” said Moki Macias ’04. At first the group felt discouraged, Macias said. But they soon regrouped. “[The trustees] pushed us to step up our game,” she said. Determined to see SRI become a reality, the group spent grueling hours working on an investment report for the trustees, learning about economics, practicing investment lingo and exploring the SRI field. “We did as much work for that report and presentation as we did for any of our classes,” said Rose Levine ’06. In the fall of 2004, the students met with the trustees again, this time armed with a new wealth of knowledge and a polished, twenty-five-page report. “The investment committee was totally blown away,” said Vanessa Di Cecco ’07. The trustees told the students they could form an official committee to manage and invest a trial SRI fund, which they would fundraise with the help of the development office. The students decided on a fundraising goal of $60,000. So far they have raised $26,000 and invested $15,000. “That summer, when money started coming in, I had a sense of completion,” said Calhoun. “The trustees had agreed to establish our fund, they had agreed with our arguments, and agreed this was a valuable thing to do.” Although Calhoun and many of the other founding members graduated right after its inception, the committee has continued to flourish. There are now sixteen students on the committee, as well as Professor of Economics Mike Robinson and Associate Treasurer Jan Albano. |
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“They’ve done an extremely good job of keeping the committee going,” said Mary Jo Maydew, vice president for finance and administration. “This is a wonderful learning experience for the students. They are managing real money. They are making real investment decisions.”
Students have already received $26,000 in donations from alumnae and the trustees. Now they are focused on reaching their fundraising goal of $60,000. “We are looking to match what we have now,” said Di Cecco. As an alum, Macias is no longer able to serve on the committee, but she has remained committed to SRI. She sends checks whenever she can and keeps in touch with current students. “It’s not just about engaging in these kinds of conversations while at school and once we leave, just giving money. We should be active in where that money is going,” she said.
The students have decided to reabsorb the money they earn back into the fund, but eventually, they would like their earnings to go towards scholarships for students from Western Massachusetts interested in going to Mount Holyoke. Both past and present committee members also say that they would still like to see SRI, particularly community investment, become a part of the endowment. “Mount Holyoke has a purpose in the world beyond educating women. It has a commitment to the community,” said Elizabeth Oshel ’05. “Community investment is just a natural expansion of Mount Holyoke’s values.”
By sponsoring an “awareness week” and other student-led campaigns, the committee continues to gain support from the student body. They welcome new members every semester. Students say they take their roles on the committee very seriously. “We definitely have a sense of history and an understanding of what it took to get SRI a part of the Mount Holyoke landscape. This committee bears the fruit of some very hard labor,” said Mari Dumbaugh ’07. “I am very confident the committee will carry on the work of those founding women.”
For more information about SRI at Mount Holyoke or to contact the student committee, please e-mail committee member Sarah Pritchard ’09 at pritc20s@mtholyoke.edu.
