Posted by Danny Graugnard
A couple of months ago, the student body as well as general members of the College had been debating, discussing, and demanding that Skidmore College should divest from companies that do not appeal to the College's expectations and philosophies of sustainability.
In order to finally move forward in the process of divestment, the college has assembled a task force composed of three faculty members, three staff members, three students, and one trustee, all who have been carefully put through various willingness-to-serve processes and have their own respective constituency groups.
The task force will proceed to attain divestment in two focused phases detailed in the president's charge to the task force.
Phase I will be primarily research and brainstorming. The task force will be exploring what divestment means. "The purpose of this initial inquiry is to understand what this call for divestment is intended to accomplish in advancing the goals of sustainability and responsible operations." The task force will be researching what other similar colleges and universities have done regarding the issue of divestment, such as Middlebury or Colby. The task force is expected to complete the first phase by the end of the academic year.
Phase II focuses on taking all of this information and determining how divestment will affect the College's endowment, annual budget, financial aid, and other areas. Phase II is expected to be completed by the end of January 2015.