Ethical Exeter is a student led campaign calling on the University of Exeter to fully divest its entire £30 million endowment away from its current investment manager, JPMorgan Chase, and into socially responsible ethical investment funds.
Exeter’s current investment portfolio has holdings in almost every industry on the planet. Unfortunately this also includes fossil fuels, arms and tobacco companies. It is here that we, as students, find a problem. As a forward thinking, up and coming university, is it right for Exeter to benefit from such morally questionable industries?
The transition to an ethical investment portfolio would make Exeter the world’s first ethically invested university. This wouldn’t just rid Exeter of the aforementioned connections, it would mean the university was using its money to promote and provide a positive change.
If you feel this is a challenge Exeter should rise to, please sign and show your support for the campaign! Additionally if you could state your association with the university: student, academic, alumni or just concerned citizen it would be incredibly helpful.
Thank you very much,
The Ethical Exeter team
Updates
Reached 1,000 supporters
October 26, 2017
October 24, 2017
We are approaching the one thousand signature mark and need a final push to hit this target for our meeting. Post this link on your Facebook wall and tag the university account. Then text three friends who attend Exeter and ask them to sign right now.
November 3, 2016
The momentum we have built proves the university cannot keep ignoring these investments. Take this link to your Facebook feed right now. Reach out to three friends and ask them to sign before the next board meeting.
November 6, 2015
We just hit 100 signatures to pull our endowment out of fossil fuels and arms. Email your department head today and tell them why divestment is a priority for this campus.
Reached 100 supporters
November 5, 2015
168 Comments
It is counterintuitive to have departments studying climate change, and then to invest in the fossil fuels the departments are proving to be contributing to climate change. As for investing in arms, it seems hard to class that as being ethical.
As a memebr of staff at the university I think this is an excellent idea, setting an example both within the university community itself, but also something that could be highlighted to the wider community that the university is a part of.
Ethical investment could influence decisions of students towards or away from particular universities, and this is likely to become more true over time. So being the FIRST university to invest ethically could make a strong statement about Exeter.
Where does the invested money come from? If any comes from tuition fees then the student body should be consulted regarding investment. The logo on the university's electric vehicles is "driving sustainable change," but that can't happen if money isn't being invested ethically. Can it?
I graduated from Exeter last summer and am gutted that it invests so heavily in fossil fuels, arms and tobacco companies. I want to respect the place that I studied but at the moment I can only feel ashamed.
Current student
don’t kill the planet after declaring a climate emergency it would be dumber than falmouth claiming it was the number 1 arts uni
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Ethical Exeter is a student led campaign calling on the University of Exeter to fully divest its entire £30 million endowment away from its current investment manager, JPMorgan Chase, and into socially responsible ethical investment funds.
Exeter’s current investment portfolio has holdings in almost every industry on the planet. Unfortunately this also includes fossil fuels, arms and tobacco companies. It is here that we, as students, find a problem. As a forward thinking, up and coming university, is it right for Exeter to benefit from such morally questionable industries?
The transition to an ethical investment portfolio would make Exeter the world’s first ethically invested university. This wouldn’t just rid Exeter of the aforementioned connections, it would mean the university was using its money to promote and provide a positive change.
If you feel this is a challenge Exeter should rise to, please sign and show your support for the campaign! Additionally if you could state your association with the university: student, academic, alumni or just concerned citizen it would be incredibly helpful.
Thank you very much,
The Ethical Exeter team
Updates
Reached 1,000 supporters
October 26, 2017
October 24, 2017
We are approaching the one thousand signature mark and need a final push to hit this target for our meeting. Post this link on your Facebook wall and tag the university account. Then text three friends who attend Exeter and ask them to sign right now.
November 3, 2016
The momentum we have built proves the university cannot keep ignoring these investments. Take this link to your Facebook feed right now. Reach out to three friends and ask them to sign before the next board meeting.
November 6, 2015
We just hit 100 signatures to pull our endowment out of fossil fuels and arms. Email your department head today and tell them why divestment is a priority for this campus.
Reached 100 supporters
November 5, 2015
168 Comments
PhD Student in Human Geography (...for a degree specifically focussed on low-carbon energy solutions. Bit counter-intuitive to fund a solution with one hand and keep on funding the problem with the other!)
It is counterintuitive to have departments studying climate change, and then to invest in the fossil fuels the departments are proving to be contributing to climate change. As for investing in arms, it seems hard to class that as being ethical.
As a memebr of staff at the university I think this is an excellent idea, setting an example both within the university community itself, but also something that could be highlighted to the wider community that the university is a part of.
Ethical investment could influence decisions of students towards or away from particular universities, and this is likely to become more true over time. So being the FIRST university to invest ethically could make a strong statement about Exeter.
Where does the invested money come from? If any comes from tuition fees then the student body should be consulted regarding investment. The logo on the university's electric vehicles is "driving sustainable change," but that can't happen if money isn't being invested ethically. Can it?
I graduated from Exeter last summer and am gutted that it invests so heavily in fossil fuels, arms and tobacco companies. I want to respect the place that I studied but at the moment I can only feel ashamed.
Current student
don’t kill the planet after declaring a climate emergency it would be dumber than falmouth claiming it was the number 1 arts uni
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PhD Student in Human Geography (...for a degree specifically focussed on low-carbon energy solutions. Bit counter-intuitive to fund a solution with one hand and keep on funding the problem with the other!)