University divestment from fossil fuels is not merely a symbolic move but an effective one, according to Lily Fleming, vice president of Climate Justice at Boston College (CJBC).
“Our endowment is approximately 3.5 billion [as of 2023],” Fleming, LSEHD ’25, said. “Fossil fuels investments were estimated to be about 7 percent of the endowment in 2020. If it’s true, $245 million is currently invested in fossil fuels.”
CJBC, EcoPledge, College Democrats of BC, FACES council, and Real Food held a divestment town hall on Monday night, in which they discussed how BC and its student population can create a more sustainable and equitable future through the university’s investments.
“A university is a community,” Fleming said. “It discloses its values by the way it behaves as much as by what it says about itself.”
Fleming said BC’s divestment from fossil fuels would show that the University, its students, and its broader community have values that align with climate action and creating a better world for everyone.
Although Fleming acknowledged that one school’s divestment from fossil fuels would not make a major difference for climate change, she argued that the combined efforts of many institutions could make an impact.
“We can’t divest if it’s just a small group [of institutions], but we can divest if we have everyone to help,” Fleming said.
Fleming also noted the effectiveness of universities divesting from the apartheid in South Africa during the late 80s.
“Divestment works,” Fleming said. “Divestment played a crucial role in ending the apartheid regime in South Africa, and we were unfortunately one of the last universities to divest from that.”
Democrats of BC further elaborated on the history of colleges as the centers of social movements, highlighting moments of student actions resulting in substantial changes, xxx Vietnam War protests.
“Campus protests became the center of the anti-war movement, especially around the issue of conscription,” said John Herrington, MCAS ’25. “This really was where all the change was happening.”
In an appeal to divine authority, CJBC also referenced Laudato Si’, an encyclical by Pope Francis on climate justice, that called on Catholic organizations to divest.
“Certainly, the Pope has also called for Catholic institutions to do so as a part of Laudato Si’,” Fleming said. “He said, ‘It’s our responsibility as Catholic institutions to divest from fossil fuels so we don’t perpetuate the harming of our Earth.’ So, if you care about Catholic values, divest.”
The town hall continued with a presentation from EcoPledge about individual choices in investment for students, encouraging audience members to look into the ethics of the corporations they invest in.
“It’s very important that when you’re investing into a specific company, you’re very mindful about what you’re getting into,” said Sancia Sehdev, EcoPledge co-president and MCAS ’25.
Sehdev added that divestment from unsustainable corporations is also a wise financial choice because of the long-term risks of stranded assets.
“Fossil fuel companies will have to cut down on operations, which means if you’re investing in these companies, you’re really not getting as much as a return as you would now expect,” Sehdev said.
Students from FACES spoke about divestment from for-profit prisons and migrant detention facilities, recommending the University provide more transparency on what companies if invests in and divest from companies that support ICE and the prison industrial complex
Fleming concluded her remarks with a call to action.
“We can divest if we have everybody’s help—we can’t divest if it’s just us CJBCers begging and getting petitions going,” Fleming said. “We need voices. With your help, new voices of the power of the people, we can ask the University to divest.”
