Divestment an effective and responsible tool
Re: Divesting from ourselves (October 1, 2010)
Dear Editors,
I really appreciated how Mr. Rotman’s article drew attention to divestment campaigns at Queen’s University and how they can operate as a powerful tool for social and environmental justice movements.
But there were some key facts missing from the opinion piece.
Boycott and divestment were instrumental in making the anti-Apartheid struggle in South Africa a global movement.
Queen’s eventually participated in the divestment campaign and despite what Mr. Rotman suggests in his article, the University did not go broke and students did not suffer as a result.
Divesting from a company does not mean the money is simply tossed away, as the article implies; it is invested elsewhere with due fiduciary concern.
Queen’s University made an ethical and financial stand against an abhorrent system of colonial istration.
In recent history, Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND), with the of then-Principal Hitchcock, the SGPS and the AMS, succeeded in getting the Board and its appropriate sub-committees to divest from companies operating in the Darfur region of Sudan.
This was another victory for social and human justice causes through what is an effective method of non-violent action and solidarity.
The “proponents of divestment,” despite what Mr. Rotman claims, should be taken very seriously, just as the Board, student governments and senior university s have rightly done in the past.
As a student and an alumnus, I am deeply concerned about the financial wellbeing of this institution.
But I am equally concerned about the social and political commitments the University adheres to.
I believe Queen’s University as a whole shares this conviction. Our institution has even implemented policies that allow for divestment on ethical grounds, which follows a long-standing tradition.
If monetary concerns completely overshadow our ability to make an ethical stand, then this institution and those who such a policy, like Mr. Rotman, need to seriously reflect upon the value of education Queen’s University offers.
Andrew Stevens,
MA ’06, PhD ’11
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