To DVZ:

We are happy to know that The New School is not directly invested in private prisons; however, The New School’s endowment is indirectly invested in two of the nation’s largest prison corporations and thus still making the school materially complicit in the foundation of the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC). We strongly believe that these investments do not align with The New School’s mission of “[making] the world a better and more just place,” due to the harm that the PIC - in tandem with public policy - inflicts on the U.S., and especially on low-income communities and communities of color.

If The New School truly wishes for its students to “improve conditions for local and global communities,” it must fully divest from the PIC in order to align The New School’s economic foundations with its ideological values.

Therefore, we ask for you to make a public statement announcing what you have already indicated to some of us: that The New School has never and will never invest in private prisons, as well as acknowledging that The New School is currently analyzing its endowment’s indirect investments in the PIC. This will make a bold statement and, hopefully, cause other institutions of higher education to do the same.

Signed,

The Student Body