After months of consultation, Queen’s is one step closer to determining an outcome on the special request for divestment.
The University announced on Nov. 20 that the Responsible Investing Review Committee finished its public consultation regarding a special request by a campus group, Queen’s University Apartheid Divest (QUAD) to the University “to divest its pooled endowment and investment funds from companies that do business in or with the state of Israel, and to implement a screening process for future investments,” according to the Queen’s Gazette.
Following a 12-day encampment on-campus in May, Principal and Vice-Chancellor Patrick Deane established a Review Committee as part of the University’s Responsible Investing Policy to evaluate a special request submitted by QUAD. As part of a public consultation period, the committee requested community submit their perspectives to help inform the committee’s decision.
The committee consists of 10 , chaired by Chancellor Emeritus Jim Leech. The other include, Todd Mattina, chair of the investment committee on the Board of Trustees, Don Raymond, chair emeritus of the Board of Trustees, Bob Watts, a member of the Governance & Nominating Committee and an adjunct professor at the School of Policy Studies, Niki Boytchuk-Hale, Rector and student trustee, among others.
READ MORE: Community rallies for divestment and solidarity at campus event
Additionally, the committee includes five non-voting advisors. The consultation, which ran from August to mid-October, saw over 320 written submissions, representing 550 individuals and organizations, and hosted 44 in-person consultations over a four-day period on campus, according to the Queen’s Gazette.
“The committee is reviewing all submissions in line with the Responsible Investing Policy’s Special Requests Procedure, focusing on the request’s alignment with University policies, the feasibility of acting on it, and its potential impact on Queen’s overall investment portfolios,” the Gazette stated.
Currently, the committee is in the process of evaluating the and will prepare a recommendation report for Principal Deane who will later present the report to the Board of Trustees for further consideration. The Board of Trustees is responsible for the overall operations of the University, including overseeing financial matters.
Tags
Responsible Investing Committee
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be ed, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to [email protected].
Matthew
I don’t tell people anymore I went to Queen’s since the anti-semitism went rampant, sad for an alumni…