100 signatures reached
To: President Beck Taylor & Board of Trustees
Make Whitworth University Fossil Free!
As public pressure to confront climate change builds, we call on President Taylor and the Trustees to freeze any new investments in fossil fuel companies, and to divest within five years from direct ownership and from any commingled funds that include fossil-fuel public equities and corporate bonds. We believe such action on behalf of Whitworth University will not only be a sound decision for our institution’s financial portfolio, but also for the wellbeing of its current and future graduating classes, who deserve to graduate with a future not defined by climate change.
Why is this important?
One of the great challenges of our generation is climate change. Human fossil fuel consumption is the principal cause of this accelerating change. This warming has been linked to an increase in natural disasters that cost billions and take a profound toll on human life. If we do not do something now to curb this pollution, we risk the livelihood of future generations.
Further, when we do not act as good stewards of God’s earth, we risk our spiritual health. Whitworth must make a tangible and proactive contribution to caring for God’s earth and for humanity’s future. Divestment, that is, removing investments in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds with fossil fuel extracting and producing companies, provides an opportunity to do just that.
It is a strong political statement that has worked before. In the 1980s, many colleges and universities divested from South African companies; this political posturing helped end apartheid.
It's time for Whitworth University to realize how incompatible these investments are with a safe climate future and with fulfilling our Christian obligations, and to take meaningful action to go Fossil Free.