Warren Wilson College

Warren Wilson College

Endowment Value: $55 million (2020)

Warren Wilson College is a private college located in Swannanoa, North Carolina. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of around 600 students. The Board of Trustees' Investment Committee manages the endowment.

Warren Wilson College’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously in 2015 to divest endowment funds from fossil fuels over the next five years. In a move that aligns the college’s investments with its core values, the college will divest from the world’s top coal, oil, and gas companies. The Board adopted a Responsible Investment Policy that includes environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) considerations and management strategies. In addition to no new endowment funds being invested in fossil fuel companies, the College also conducts positive screenings based on ESG parameters. Within two years alone, the College successfully divested 84% of its portfolio.

In 2020, Warren Wilson College was featured in the Intentional Endowment Network’s case study on ESG investing. The study revealed that schools employing ESG investing practices saw the same or better returns as schools employing a traditional approach to investing. Read the full study here.

Warren Wilson College is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments: 

  • AASHE STARS: Yes, Gold
  • ACUPCC: Yes, Carbon Neutral by 2025
  • Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
  • CDP: No
  • Divestment Goal: Yes, full
  • Committee for Investor Responsibility: Yes
  • INCR: No
  • Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
  • Sustainable Investment Fund: No
  • Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
  • Principles for Responsible Investment: No

Other Sustainable Investing Practices and Resources:



 

AASHE STARS divestment Sustainable Investment Policy ACUPCC Divestment Goal

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