Resolution regarding fossil fuel divestment of the IU Foundation Endowment

WHEREAS, the students of Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) and Indiana University Southeast (IUS) have called for the IU Foundation to divest its endowment from investments in the top 200 fossil fuel companies within five years;

WHEREAS, for the purposes of this resolution, a “fossil fuel company” shall be defined as any of the two hundred publicly-traded companies with the largest coal, oil, and gas reserves as measured by the gigatons of carbon dioxide that would be emitted if those reserves were extracted and burned, as listed in the Carbon Tracker Initiative’s “Unburnable Carbon” report;

WHEREAS, the representative bodies of IU Bloomington and IU Southeast (IU Student Association (IUSA), Graduate and Professional Student Organization (GPSO), and IU Southeast Student Senate) have already formally supported this initiative;

WHEREAS, the representative bodies already supporting this initiative speak for approximately 53,550 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students within the Indiana University system, constituting roughly 47% of total IU enrollment;

WHEREAS, for the financial, moral, and environmental justifications for fossil fuel divestment outlined in IU Bloomington’s Graduate and Professional Student Organization’s official statement, Call for the Indiana University Foundation to Divest from Fossil Fuel Companies;

WHEREAS, the IU Foundation is the financial foundation upon which the sustainability and preservation of Indiana University lies;

WHEREAS, fossil fuel divestment is an important step in addressing the fundamental and unavoidable climate change challenges that Indiana University and the IU Foundation must face;

WHEREAS, Indiana University ought to serve as a leader and innovator—a model to its peers, the nation, and the world;

WHEREAS, students at more than three hundred colleges and universities in the U.S. have already launched campaigns to divest their institutions from fossil fuel companies;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, by the All University Student Association, representing all students of Indiana University, that—

The IU Foundation should divest the IU endowment from the top 200 fossil fuel companies within five years, by the conclusion of Spring 2020; and

The University Administration, Board of Trustees, and the IU Foundation should immediately cease any new investments in fossil fuel companies or in commingled assets that include holdings in fossil fuel companies.

Passed by the All University Student Association on this 5th day of November, 2014.