Pitzer College
Endowment Value: $144.3 million (2021)
Pitzer College is a private college located in Claremont, California with a student population of about 1,000. From innovative, green buildings to food waste initiatives, Pitzer College is a model of sustainability in the modern era. Such initiatives have earned it a second place rank in the 2018 Princeton Review Guide of 399 Green Colleges.
In 2014, Pitzer adopted several responsible investment practices such as considering ESG factors in portfolio manager selection and monitoring, establishing a sustainability fund as a subset of its endowment holdings, and divesting from fossil fuels (making Pitzer the first college in Southern California to divest from fossil fuels). Don Gould, trustee and chair of the investment committee at Pitzer College, published an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education outlining their rationale for divesting from fossil fuels. In this article, he shares responses to some of the most common concerns regarding divestment, including fiduciary duty, financial performance, the impact on fossil fuel companies, the hypocrisy of continuing to use fossil fuels after divesting, sacrificing returns, and politicizing the endowment.
In 2017, Pitzer College became the founding investor to the first-ever global equity index that is both ESG-focused and fossil fuel-free. According to the press release, “the fund is designed to help endowments, foundations and other nonprofit organizations meet their Responsible Investment goals.”
Pitzer College is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments:
- IEN Member (2017)
- AASHE STARS: Yes, Silver
- ACUPCC: Yes, Carbon Neutral by 2050
- Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
- CDP: No
- Committee for Investor Responsibility: Yes
- Divestment Goal: Yes, divestment from fossil fuels
- INCR: No
- Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
- Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
- Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
- Principles for Responsible Investment: No
Other Sustainable Investing Practices:
- Passive ESG Strategies Webinar (November 2017)
- Fireside Chat: The Pitzer College Story - IEN Bay Area Roundtable (September 2017)
- Pitzer College and BlackRock Launch First Ever ESG-Focused, Fossil Fuel-Free Global Equity Index Fund (September 2017)
- Pitzer to Divest 99% of Endowment (April 2014)
- Sustainability at Pitzer