Club calls on Penn to invest its endowment more responsibly

Students concerned with making sure Penn puts its money where its mouth is formed a new group last Wednesday night with just that purpose. The group -- called Student Alliance to Reform Corporation -- hopes to ensure that Penn's endowment money is being invested in socially responsible corporations. To accomplish that task, the group plans to create a set of principles for investing in accordance with the school's mission policy. The first meeting of STARC was held last Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Civic House, where about 15 students, most of whom were freshmen, expressed a desire to join the group. While this is the first group of its type at Penn, the concept for the alliance is not a new one. In fact there is currently a network of STARC-type groups at other colleges and universities, some of which are alternately named Students for Responsible Investing. Penn's STARC group wants to ensure that the University's endowment money does not support companies that have histories of discrimination, damage to the environment or violations of human and labor rights through the use of practices such as sweatshop labor. "Students shouldn't have to ask if their school is supporting sweatshops or a dictator in Burma," said College freshman Alisa Valderrama, leader the group's formation at Penn. To tackle such concerns, the group plans to research the companies in which Penn currently invests and unite with STARC groups from other schools. Additionally, Valderrama said the mission is to not only ensure socially responsible investing by Penn but also to lobby for the corporations themselves to be responsible. The group wants to send two or three students to a conference at Yale next fall where student groups from colleges across the country plan to outline a group of principles for responsible investing. When complete, the groups will simultaneously present the principles to their universities under the name of STARC. The purpose for this action is to put pressure on the schools and to call attention to the groups' cause. Though the students realize that making a change in school policy will take time, they are optimistic that, ultimately, they can have an impact. "I think it's an uphill battle with a lot of powerful forces involved," College freshman James Jacoby said. "Our focus should be awareness rather than antagonism." Valderrama made it clear that the group will be neither anti-administration nor anti-corporation. "We want to educate students on the connection between corporations and social issues," Valderrama said. She added that particularly because Penn prides itself on looking toward the future, the school must be conscious of social responsibility and social justice. Management and Technology freshman Dave Badler agreed with Valderrama's point. "In a school focused on the money-making side of investment, it is important not to sweep the ethical side of investing under the carpet," he said.