UT Called to Divest in Genocide

Claims that the University of Texas may be tied to investing in

genocide have risen, and through a resolution, Student Government must
choose a stance on the matter: Support divestment in genocide by UT or
take no part in the issue.
UT Student Government voted on Nov. 11 whether or not to pressure
the Board of Regents to divest the school systems investments in companies
some claim are connected to genocide in Sudan. Questions about whether
the resolution is a student issue came up by Student Government assembly
members during the Oct. 28 meeting. Also, the University of Texas
Investment Management Company and supporters of divestment, argue the
ethics behind this issue in numerous articles and statements.
UTIMCO manages $25 billion in endowments for UT and Texas A&M
University, according to Pensions & Investments newspaper. Of that, more
than $12 million is invested in companies operating in Sudan, according to
UTIMCOs Permanent University Fund 2013 investment schedule. Genocide in
Sudan began in 2003, following two prolonged civil wars, and according to
the World Without Genocide website, has killed almost half a million people.
This resolution, if passed, calls on the Board of Regents to create a more
thorough blacklist of companies than that of the Texas Comptrollers blacklist
and to establish policies that prevent UTIMCO from investing or having equity
in blacklisted companies that perpetuate genocide at any point in the future.

Its ultimately something that really effects students, Ali Breland, the
primary author of the resolution, said. It reflects on the university when our
college is one of the colleges that hasnt divested.
Jackson Clifford, business representative and sponsor of the resolution,
said students are connected to the investment of genocide through their
tuition. The UTIMCO collects revenue from the UT System and Texas A&M
System, which includes student tuition, according to Clifford. UTIMCO then
manages and invests that revenue in companies including those that are
affiliated with genocide in Sudan.
Were the foundation, Clifford said. By lobbying so we do not have
UTIMCO fund companies that are operating in Sudan, then we are actually
making that change.
Bruce Zimmerman, chief executive officer and chief investment officer
of UTIMCO, has said UTIMCO doesnt take social or political concerns into
consideration when investing, according to an opinion article written by
Breland for The Daily Texan. Breland has written opinion articles for the
newspaper dating back to 2011.
He (Zimmerman) has said that factoring social responsibility into
UTIMCOs investment could lead to a slippery slope of investment restrictions
that could potentially hurt the fund, according to Brelands article.
Breland argues that it is possible for UTIMCO to be successful while
taking ethics into consideration because other universities have maintained
endowments similar to UTs while doing so.

Businesses must make a profit or they cease to exist, Professor

Stephanie Jue said. However, that doesnt mean that a business must
choose to be completely socially responsible or not at all. Jue is a professor
of the McCombs School of Business at UT and teaches a course about the
social and ethical responsibilities of business.
According to Jue, sometimes being socially responsible simply means
conducting business as efficiently as possible while also doing as little harm
as possible. If thats the most that a particular business can do, then society
will have to accept that, said Jue. With that, Jue also said that although
businesses should not act like a charity, those that set their minds to giving
back or being socially responsible have found ways to do so without
negatively affecting their bottom line. Also, according to Jue, many of the
shareholders of such businesses are supportive of this kind of mind set. Jue
did not comment when asked specifically about whether or not UTIMCO
should divest in companies affiliated with genocide.
This is the kind of resolution that can save lives, said Breland. If
Student Government can save one life, that is a big deal and speaks volumes
about the kind of work were doing.
The resolution was sent to the Legislative Affairs Committee after the
assembly meeting. Two weeks later, Student Government unanimously
passed it. UTIMCO and UT System did not respond to requests to be
interviewed.