Penn President Amy Gutmann won’t have to go mop shopping any time soon.
On Thursday, members of Penn’s chapter of the Student Labor Action Project delivered mops to Gutmann’s office in attempt to protest Penn’s investment in the hotel company HEI.
According to Penn SLAP leaders,HEI treats its workers unfairly.
Gutmann received one mop per hour from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., as well as copies of testimonies from HEI hotel workers alleging abuse.
Penn SLAP coordinator and College sophomore Rosie Brown said the protest was intended to get Gutmann to meet with Penn SLAP leaders, as well as to demonstrate students’ involvement in the campaign.
University spokeswoman Lori Doyle wrote in an e-mail that the University “respect[s] the right of the students and other members of our community to express their opinions regarding labor and other social issues.”
However, the issue centers around HEI and its employees and is thus a dispute in which the University plays no part, she said.
Brown disagreed. “By being invested in HEI, that makes us immediately responsible for what their company does,” she said.
“It’s a priority not to be socially irresponsible with our money,” said College junior and Penn SLAP member Jenna Riemenschneider.
HEI, whose primary investors are college and university endowments, buys hotels and cuts costs while maintaining the same capacity, according to Brown.
This practice puts unfair strain on workers, she said.
She pointed to an Oct. 30 National Labor Relations Board unfair labor practice complaint filed against the HEI-owned Sheraton Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Va.
Brown said the ultimate goal is to get Penn to divest from the company.
Such a move would set an example for peer institutions also invested in HEI, like Harvard, Yale and Cornell Universities, she said.
Brown said such widespread divestment would send a message to HEI since it relies heavily on investment from universities.
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