A Proposal to Create an Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

Table of Contents The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project Socially Responsible Investing (SRI)Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) SRI & Boston College Examples at other Universities Committee Proposal Get Involved

Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project “Doing Good while doing Well”

Three Tenants of SRI Social Screening Shareholder Advocacy Alternative Investing The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

Social Screening Proactive:  Positive Screening  Avoidance Screening Re-active:  Divestment The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

Qualities of a good “corporate citizen” Respectable employee relations Strong records of community involvement Excellent environmental impact policies and practices Respect for human rights around the world Safe and useful products The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

Examples of Social Screening: The Domini 400 Social Index: Avoids: alcohol, tobacco, gambling, nuclear power, pornography, firearms, and military contractors Rewards: corporate citizenship, diversity, employee/labor relations, environment, safe products Harvard University: Divested all tobacco stocks and has prevented their future purchase US Conference of Catholic Bishops: Screens out firms primarily engaged in the development or production of military weapons The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

Shareholder Advocacy: Shareholders have the right to introduce and vote on proxy (shareholder) resolutions regarding certain company matters Shareholder Advocacy describes investor efforts to submit and vote corporate proxy resolutions as a means of positively influencing company behavior. Dialogue with Corporate Management Phone Calls, Letters, Meetings The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

Shareholder Advocacy Successes: Through shareholder resolutions over 200 corporations were pressured to break all ties with Apartheid South Africa General Motors signed the CERES principles, a corporate environmental code (an environmental code of conduct). The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project Generally only 10% of the votes are needed for social and environmental shareholder resolutions!

Alternative Investing : Providing struggling communities with access to badly needed capital. Tools for building healthy communities: Affordable housing Job creation Micro-loans The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

SRI & Boston College What we know… and what we don’t. The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

What we know: BC has an endowment of approximately $1.1 billion, overseen by 10 money managers. BC pays up to $10,000 annually for the services of the Investor Responsibility Research Center. The Treasurer’s Office provides only a “broad guideline” for voting on shareholder resolutions. No vote is mandatory. BC has no social or environmental screening practices in place. The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

What we don’t know: If or how the money managers vote on resolutions The proxy voting guideline provided to the money managers The publicly traded securities held in the endowment portfolio The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project  Why the unnecessary secrecy? 

What we are missing out on! Without an SRI advisory committee… BC will not be using its numerous shares to vote in favor of these 2004 social and environmental shareholder resolutions that would require: Costco – Develop a culturally sensitive land acquisition policy, specifically in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Wal-Mart – Prepare an Equal Employment Opportunity Report. – Prepare a Sustainability Report. The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

Where this leaves us: Boston College is only half living up to its commitment towards social justice! The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project Are we a University of “Men and Women for Others” ? With our time? (volunteering) With our money?

What we should think about: Is business a special or unique game outside other human issues? Do those who work in finance stand outside the Jesuit mission? The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

SRI at Other Universities Who & How? The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

Examples of Universities with Active SRI Advisory Committees Barnard Brown Columbia Dartmouth* Earlham Hampshire Harvard Princeton Smith Stanford Swarthmore U. Minnesota U Penn Vassar Wesleyan* Williams Yale The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project *proposed

Size doesn’t matter… Endowment Size (FY 2002) Hampshire $30 Million Barnard $126 Million Earlham $214 Million Wesleyan $484 Million Vassar $554 Million Smith $810 Million Swarthmore $894 Million Williams $1.2 Billion Brown $1.4 Billion The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project U. Minnesota $1.5 Billion Dartmouth $2.4 Billion U Penn $3.4 Billion Columbia $4.2 Billion Stanford $7.6 Billion Princeton $8.3 Billion Yale $10.5 Billion Harvard $17.5 Billion

Portfolio Transparency : These institutions all have various levels of portfolio transparency. All SRI Advisory Committees have access to information regarding endowment securities. Many of these universities also provide this information to their community. Others go as far as making the information completely public. The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

SRI Advisory BC What we are asking for… The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

We, the Boston College Community, want Our University to adhere to its Mission Statement and the Jesuit ideals it was founded upon- “Boston College commits itself to the pursuit of a just society” The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project From the BC Mission Statement

In light of that, we are asking for: 1. Boston College to establish a 12 member Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing that would include: Undergrad Students Graduate Students Faculty & Staff Jesuits 2. Transparency for the committee and the University Community. The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

In light of that, we are asking for: 3. Boston College to use their endowment to partake in shareholder advocacy. 4. Boston College to allow the process to be Open and Democratic. What does Boston College need to hide? Lead the way to a more just society! The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

Get Involved What you can do to help… The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

Learn More Pick up the full proposal on your way out. Talk to someone in GJP that knows more about SRI and our proposal. Research this yourself. There is lots of information and documentation that can be found with just your web browser. The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

Spread the Word Talk about SRI with your friends and family. Communicate the need to join us in this mission to all of the organizations you are involved with. This presentation and our proposal can be found at or can be obtained from any member of GJP. The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

Commit to the Initiative: Personally sign the Letter of Proposal to be presented to our Board of Trustees. Get your campus organizations to sign onto the initiative. Vote or run in the first Committee Elections. The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project

Thank you for your time, energy, and dedication! The Advisory Committee on SRI An Initiative of the Global Justice Project