University of North Carolina Asheville

Endowment Value: $52.4 million (2020)

The University of North Carolina Asheville is one of seventeen campuses that comprise the University of North Carolina System. About 3,900 undergraduate students attend UNC Asheville. UNC Management Company manages UNC Asheville's endowment. UNC Asheville is the only liberal arts college within the UNC System.

Student pressure, particularly from UNCA Divest, has played a catalytic role in sparking UNCA’s integration of environmental, social, and governance factors into its investments. UNCA’s vice chancellor for administration and finance John Pierce stated, “our students have been diligent and perceptive in working through the complexities of ESG investments from both a mission-based and financial perspective. Together, we explored alternatives and worked toward solutions.”

In February 2016, UNCA established a student-managed ESG fund and provided $10,000 in seed funding. The goal of this fund is to “invest in projects, companies, funds, or organizations with the express goal of generating and measuring mission-related social, environmental or economic change alongside financial return” alongside creating an educational opportunity for students interested in ethical investment or seeking careers in finance.

In June of 2019, UNCA became the first university in the UNC system to divest in fossil fuels. The decision came after the UNC Asheville Board of Trustees made a historic vote to shift approximately 10% of its $50 million endowment to a manager focused on ESG investing and shareholder advocacy. Students worked closely with the Board and administration to research funds and draft a proposal.

University of North Carolina Asheville is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments: 

• AASHE STARS: No
• ACUPCC: No
• Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
• CDP: No
• Committee on Investor Responsibility: No
• Divestment Goal: Yes, partial
• INCR: No
• Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
• Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
• Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes (only for a portion of the endowment)
• Principles for Responsible Investment: No

Other Sustainable Investing Practices:

• UNC Asheville becomes first in UNC system to divest from fossil fuels (June 2019)
• Sustainability on Campus

Grinnell College

Endowment Value: $2.93 billion (2021)

Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college located in Grinnell, Iowa. Most of Grinnell's endowment assets are invested with external managers, who have been chosen following extensive reviews by the College’s internal investment staff and approved by the board’s Investment Committee. Investor partners Joe Rosenfield, alumnus, and Warren Buffet both sat on the Board of Trustees and worked with the administration to grow the endowment.  

Grinnell College first published a campus-wide sustainability plan in 2013 with the goal of reducing its carbon footprint and pursuing sustainability through three intersecting spheres: environmental (such as resource management), social (education, community, living standards), and economic (profit, cost-savings, fair trade). In 2017 and 2018, Grinnell College updated its plan to include carbon emissions reduction and renewable sourcing goals. 

In April 2017, the Board of Trustees (BoT) appointed a Board Fossil Fuels and Climate Impact Task Force to study divestment from fossil fuels and explore ways in which Grinnell College can have a positive impact on climate change. The Task Force’s recommendations that were endorsed by the BoT included a.) to maintain the current investment policy and not divest from fossil fuels, b.) increase the Investment Committee’s shareholder engagement in ESG-related issues, and c.)  assess the feasibility of creating a separate fund for donors wishing to contribute to an ESG-screened, fossil fuel-free fund in the endowment. The Task Force also recommended that the investment team continue to leverage alliances with like-minded investors, through organizations such as the Intentional Endowments Network (IEN) and Ceres.

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

• AASHE STARS: No
• ACUPCC: Yes, no set carbon neutral date
• Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
• CDP: No
• Committee on Investor Responsibility: Yes
• Divestment Goal: No
• INCR: Yes
• Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
• Sustainable Investment Fund: In development
• Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
• Principles for Responsible Investment: No

Other Sustainable Investing Practices:

• Sustainability Plan (updated 2018)
• Fossil Fuels and Climate Impact Task Force Recommendations (2018)
• Sustainable Endowment and Task Force FAQ (2018)
• Grinnell Sustainability
• Investor Responsibility at Grinnell College

Northland College

Endowment Value: $25.8 million (2020)

Northland College is a private liberal arts college in Ashland, Wisconsin. Northland College has a student body of 600 and centers the environment and sustainability in its education. The Board of Trustees oversees the management of Northland’s endowment. 

In 2017, Northland College formed the Committee on Investor Responsibility (CIR) to consider fossil fuel divestment. Since then, the CIR’s role has been expanded to include the full scope of sustainable investment including making recommendations on socially and environmentally responsible investment opportunities and proxy voting advice. In February 2018, the Board of Trustees authorized Northern Trust Company, its primary financial manager, to begin implementing the Board's proposal to remove fossil fuels from the endowment over the course of five years.

In early 2020, Northland College completed its divestment process. Roughly $823,000 of the college’s $25.8 million endowment was divested from the fossil fuel industry.

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

• IEN Member (2017)
• AASHE STARS: Yes, Gold
• ACUPCC: Yes, Carbon Neutral By 2030
• Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
• CDP: No
• Committee on Investor Responsibility: Yes
• Divestment Goal: Yes, full
• INCR: No
• Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
• Sustainable Investment Fund: No
• Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
• Principles for Responsible Investment: No

Articles

• DNT: Northland College Finalizes Divestment from Fossil Fuels (2020)
• Sustainability at Northland College

Carleton College

Endowment Value:  $1.2 billion (2021)

Carleton College is a private college located in Northfield, Minnesota. The Carleton Responsible Investment Committee (CRIC) was established in 2005 and is composed of students, staff, and faculty. The primary purpose of the CRIC is to make recommendations about the management of the endowment to the Board of Trustees to ensure that the endowment embodies Carleton's values. For example, within the past three years, the Committee has supported multiple shareholder resolutions that strengthened environmental, social, and governance policies of companies in its investment portfolio.

In addition, in the wake of growing student mobilization for fossil fuel divestment, students from the CRIC organized a student-led town hall discussion on the pros and cons of divestment in the fossil fuel industry 

According to the most recent STARS Report, “while Carleton does not have a sustainable investment policy, the College aims to invest with managers whose standards of propriety, fairness, and ethical integrity align with those of the College. The College tries to select managers that will generate superior returns, but not at all costs, and make investments in a responsible manner that takes into account societal impacts.” The College also reports that a percentage of its endowment is invested in sustainable industries such as renewable energy and sustainable forestry.

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

• IEN Member: No
• AASHE STARS: Yes, Silver
• ACUPCC: Yes, Climate Neutral by 2050
• Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
• CDP: No
• Committee on Investor Responsibility: Yes
• INCR: No
• Divestment Goal: No
• Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
• Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
• Sustainable Investment Policy: No
• Principles for Responsible Investment: Yes

Other Sustainable Investing Practices and News:

• CRIC Charter
• Sustainability at Carleton

Columbia University 

Endowment Value: $14.35 billion (June 2021)

Columbia University is a private institution located in New York City. The Columbia Investment Management Company (IMC) manages the University's endowment. Columbia established the Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing (ASCRI) in March 2000. The Committee's purpose is to advise the University Trustees on ethical and social issues that arise in the management of the University's endowment. To ensure that the Committee is broadly representative of the University community, its twelve voting members are drawn in equal proportion from students, faculty, and alumni of the University.

The ACSRI maintains comprehensive guidelines for the endowment’s socially responsible investment proxy voting that includes positions on a variety of issues. According to The University’s most recent STARS report, Columbia currently performs negative screenings for tobacco producers/manufacturers, private prison operators, companies deriving more than 35% of their revenue in thermal coal production, and those implicated in human rights abuses. 

Columbia University houses the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI), which is a joint center of Columbia Law School and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. The CCSI is the only university-based applied research center and forum dedicated to the study, practice, and discussion of sustainable investment.

Columbia University is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments: 

• AASHE STARS: Yes, Gold
• ACUPCC: No
• Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
• CDP: Yes
• Committee on Investor Responsibility: Yes
• Divestment Goal: Yes, divestment from coal & in oil and gas companies
• 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 from Columbia University:

• Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI)
• Columbia's Fossil Free Policy (2021)

University of Oregon

Endowment Value: $1.32 billion (2021)

The University of Oregon is a public research university located in Eugene, Oregon. The University of Oregon Foundation manages the endowment and is overseen by the Board of Trustees.

According to the Board’s Statement of Investment Principles, “The UO encourages its advisors and managers to include ESG factors in their analytical processes... [but ESG criteria] are only one factor in analyses and should not be used as exclusionary screens to eliminate specific entities or sectors from consideration.”

In the Fall of 2016, the UO Foundation announced it would begin transitioning away from fossil fuel investments. "We believe that green-energy initiatives — such as solar and wind power, sustainable forestry, and organic farming — will steadily replace investments in carbon-based fuel sources, and we do not have any investments in coal," said UO Foundation Chief Investment Officer, Jay Namyet.

Following this announcement, OU students and faculty organized a forum titled "Investing in the Age of Climate Change” to discuss the impact of climate change on businesses and investors. The panel took place in April of 2017.

The University of Oregon is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments: 

• AASHE STARS: Yes, Gold
• ACUPCC: No
• Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
• CDP: No
• Committee on Investor Responsibility: No
• INCR: No
• Divestment Goal: Yes, full
• Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
• Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
• Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes, Statement of Investment Principles and ESG Factors in Investment Management
• Principles for Responsible Investment: No

Other Sustainable Investing Practices and Resources:

• Sustainability at the University of Oregon
• UO Divest Campaign protests University of Oregon Foundation Investments in Fossil Fuels (March 2016)
• IEN Blog: UO holds “Investing in the Age of Climate Change” Event (May 2017)

University of Southern Maine

Endowment Value: $39.4 million (2020)

The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a multi-campus public university and part of the University of Maine System. The three campuses are located in Portland, Gorham, and Lewiston. Approximately 7,800 students attend USM across these three campuses. The Office of Sustainability works at all three campuses to promote sustainable living for students and sustainable work for faculty and staff. UMS’s investments are overseen by the Investment Committee.

In 2017, USM released a comprehensive campus-wide sustainability strategic plan to achieve the University’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2040, a goal undertaken as a signatory to American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC).

USM also committed to divesting from coal in 2014, an accomplishment largely attributed to efforts by the student-faculty led Divest UMaine.

The University of Southern Maine is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments: 

• IEN Member (2017)
• AASHE STARS: No
• ACUPCC: Yes, Climate Neutral by 2040
• Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
• CDP: No
• Committee on Investor Responsibility: No
• Divestment Goal: Yes, divestment from coal
• 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:

• USM Campus Sustainability Strategic Plan (2017)
• Sustainability at USM

*USM is included in the broader University of Maine System

Chatham University 

Endowment Value: $95.4 million (2020)

Chatham University is a private university with an enrollment of over 2,200 students. Chatham University offers over 60 undergraduate and graduate programs in four areas of excellence: sustainability; health & lab sciences; business & communication; and the arts & humanities. All undergraduates, save for those in the nursing program, are required to take a course on sustainability.

Currently, Chatham is among the five higher education institutions out of Pennsylvania’s 164 colleges and universities to formally adopt and apply ESG practices as part of their investment strategy. The University’s sustainable investment policy outlines guiding principles that include reducing fossil fuel investments, advocating against corporations that deny climate change, and favoring investments that have positive environmental impacts, promote sustainability, and support positive local community development. More than 13% of Chatham’s investment pool is in sustainable investments.

The administration has worked closely with students on the Student Investment Team (SIT) and the committee on investor responsibility to assess the University’s exposure to fossil fuels and draft recommendations towards sustainable investing. In the Spring of 2017, the investment committee of the Board of Trustees voted to approve two new investment opportunities that are specifically aimed at excluding fossil fuels and supporting sustainable energy. Chatham’s Senior Vice President of Finance, Walt Fowler, said reducing the university’s support of fossil fuel companies is in line with its goal of pursuing sustainability in every part of its operations. “It’s important to us ethically, because we believe the world needs to reduce their use of fossil fuels,” Fowler said. At the end of this year, the university will replace a hedge fund with a private equity fund focused exclusively on supporting wind power. It will also swap investment in a standard equity fund for a BNY Mellon fund that is filtered specifically for green companies but matches the performance of the current fund.

Chatham University is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments:

• IEN Member (2017)
• AASHE STARS: Yes, Gold
• ACUPCC: Yes, Carbon Neutral By 2025
• Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
• CDP: No
• Committee for Investor Responsibility: Yes
• Divestment Goal: No
• INCR: No
• Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
• Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
• Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
• Principles for Responsible Investment: No

Other Sustainable Investing Practices and News:

• Chatham University Moves Some Endowment Investments From Fossil Fuels To Green Companies, April 4, 2017
• Sustainability at Chatham University