Divest Smith College (DSC) is a network of students and community members dedicated to continuing Smith College’s history of empowering women of all backgrounds to make a positive impact on the world by creating an environment that is both fiscally and morally responsible. DSC recognizes that funding the fossil fuel industry jeopardizes long term human health and environmental security. The moral implications of remaining invested in the fossil fuel industry contradict the Smith College community’s longstanding commitment to being pioneers in social and environmental justice movements and their stated commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. Divest Smith College asks that Smith College take concrete steps towards divesting from the fossil fuel industry.

We aim to set investment standards that will establish Smith College as a model for an economically viable, socially proactive, and environmentally committed institution. We request that the Smith College Board of Trustees:

1. Freeze any new investment in fossil-fuel companies, and commit now to divest within five years from direct ownership and from any commingled funds that include fossil-fuel public equities and corporate bonds.
2. Publish an annual progress report about the exposure of Smith College’s endowment to the fossil fuel industry.