Minutes from Fossil Free WSU Meeting on March 28, 2023
Present: Stevie Smith, Ryan Culp, Daniel Howell, Simon Smith, Danielle Weinberger, Gil Rezin, Abby Owens, Bill Engels, Bill Engels Jr.
1. Faculty Survey
Stevie reported that of 214 respondents to the survey, which was posted earlier today, 48% agreed that WSU should divest and 42% said no.
2. Jason Sampson’s Report on the Task Force, Response to Questions
After the FFWSU campaign got underway in the fall of 2021, President Schulz called together a group consisting of Jason, Kent Keller and Judy Padowski with WSU’s School of the Environment, and individuals at other universities and/or WSU campuses for coordinating efforts on environmental sustainability at WSU. Five categories of groups working on sustainability were identified: operations and administration, research, community partners, curriculum (to address what students are being taught), and communication. Each group will set up goals by Christmas of 2023 for approval by the Board of Regents in May of 2024.
The Task Force will be launched in the fall of 2023 with a one-day symposium. A committee will track progress of the groups in setting up goals (or WSU’s in meeting them or both?). The communications group is currently creating a website with information on the goals on the first page.
As FFWSU works with others on the Task Force and sets up and advocates for its goal, Mike Connell, CEO of the WSU Foundation, will dialogue and work with us, providing relevant figures regarding investments, etc. Part of what makes WSU divestment a complex issue is that a portion of the endowment is in the Pac 12 mutual funds, so if one school divests, all must. Also, some companies are involved in both fossil fuels and renewables; Stanford University tried to divest, but then lost financial support for some of their green initiatives since the same company was invested in both areas. WSU doesn’t want to burn needed bridges. It is important to define who we want WSU to divest from.
The Board of Regents can be expected to consult with the WSU Foundation and follow their recommendations regarding fossil divestment. Jason suggested that we first get our goal approved by the Board of Regents as part of the collective goals recommended by the Task Force, then seek the Divestment Resolution approval by the Regents, so that we aren’t asking the Regents to approve a different goal from the one recommended by the Task Force. Thus, we might aim for presenting the Resolution to the Regents for approval in the fall of 2024.
Jason agreed that it would expedite the process of getting WSU out of fossil fuels, that they would be more inclined to act, if the Regents approved the Resolution since a certain amount of publicity would attend that event. The divestment goal would probably not be identified separately from the other goals recommended by the Task Force and approved by the Regents. However, FFWSU can include a specific timeline for divesting in the recommended goal.
There is apparently a lot of receptivity to divestment among the WSU administration, including from President Schulz, whose background as an engineer is in clean energy. Jason recommended going through Mike Connell on seeking divestment of the Cougar Fund’s holdings in fossil fuels. We could ask him to recommend alternative investments for proposing to the Cougar Fund student managers, so that we aren’t simply asking them to stop investing in fossil fuels. These managers work with him. On the question of whether a petition to the Faculty Senate is better than a Resolution, we might ask Julie Padowski. Jason indicated that the WSU Foundation is invested in mutual funds only, not in other financial instruments as well. He said the amount of the WSU portfolio’s investments in fossil fuels isn’t huge.
3. Student Petition
Stevie reported the number of signatures was 872. The group decided to print 300 half-sheet flyers for distributing at the rally and march on April 22nd. Bill will ask Mason to create flyers with colored lettering.
4. Rally and March
The rally will begin at 4 pm in Ruby St. Park. Gil, Stevie, and Ryan volunteered to give speeches. The speeches used at the October rally and march could be edited and used. Stevie will ask WSU to bring two tables. He will also inquire about permission to display a dropdown banner on campus for advertising the Earth Week events. Bill will ask Olivia about borrowing the megaphone used in October.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, April 11th, 6 pm, in CUB 310
Fossil Free WSU 