Group urges U. to divest from companies with ties to Burma

Although many Penn students rarely wonder how the University invests its money, a small student group is trying to change where Penn invests as part of a larger movement of social advocacy. Last Friday, around 10 students from the Free Burma Coalition staged a "Rally for Divestment" protest at the corner of 36th and Walnut streets, the site of Thursday and Friday's Board of Trustees meetings. The protesters' main mission: to end Penn's investment in companies with have a financial stake in Burma, which is now called Myanmar. "We had already done a massive letter campaign, and it really wasn't as receptive as we had hoped," said College junior Katie Cooper, a member of the coalition. "[But] with this meeting, we were able to inform more students and reach out to the Trustees." Wharton and Engineering senior Peter Chowla, the president of the coalition, explained that Penn invests $7.5 million dollars in three major companies that have equity ties to Myanmar -- Unocal, a natural gas company; Hyundai, the Korean car manufacturing company; and Atlantic Richfield, a second natural gas company. Chowla added that Unocal and Atlantic Richfield have started drilling for oil off the shores of Myanmar. He also said that Unocal is building a natural gas pipeline through the country. "The main purpose of this protest is to convince the administration that they should divest their holdings," Chowla said. "Eventually, it's going to go to a Trustees meeting, and hopefully then they will break away from the companies." The Trustees, however, must vote to approve all University investments, and have therefore already approved the investments in companies with equity ties to Myanmar. During the protest, Coalition members handed out flyers explaining their cause. Student response was positive overall, as numerous bystanders stopped to listen to the protesters. Additionally, many students signed a petition on the issue which will go to the Trustees' Investment Subcommittee. But for Chowla, this is only a part of a larger protest. "We are bringing resolutions for divestment before all constituent bodies, including the A-3 Assembly [Penn's support-staff group] and the [Graduate and Professional Student Assembly] group," he said. "It should culminate in a resolution from the University Council." The Coalition is a subcommittee of the Progressive Activist Network, an umbrella organization for student activism. Students in the subcommittee meet on a weekly basis and will be holding another protest at the next Trustees meeting, which will be held in June. They also encourage new membership and student involvement. "A lot more students should come to our meetings, and should send protest e-mails to Landis Zimmerman [Penn's Managing Director for Investments] or John Fry, the [Executive] Vice President," said Tasha Wahl, another coalition member. "It's been a real uphill battle since we have such a small group of people," the College junior said. "Divestment is a big issue and if there is not a lot of people, it's never going to get accomplished."