FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 30, 2023
Contact: Sanya Bhartiya, (720) 210-7694, ejtf.uchicago@gmail.com
University of Chicago students file legal complaint calling for fossil fuel divestment
The complaint, which accuses the school of violating its obligations under nonprofit law through its contributions to climate change, mirrors complaints filed today by students at five other universities.
CHICAGO, IL – Students at the University of Chicago have filed a legal complaint with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul alleging that the University has violated its legal obligation to its students and the University community by investing in the fossil fuel industry. The coalition of students, operating under the Divest UChicago campaign and assisted by attorneys at the Climate Defense Project, are calling for the University of Chicago to divest its $10.3 billion endowment from fossil fuels and increase transparency regarding its investment practices. Over 50 professors and 60 local and national organizations joined the coalition of students to affirm that these investments contribute to the climate crisis and cause harm to UChicago’s students and community.
The complaint accuses the University of Chicago of violating its legal responsibility as a nonprofit. Under Illinois Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (IL UPMIFA), the University’s Board of Trustees must guide the investment of the endowment in line with their fiduciary duty and the university’s mission. However, students argue that current investment practices do not fall in line with these responsibilities: the university’s existing investments in fossil fuels are financially risky and fuel climate change, violating their commitment to the safety of the UChicago community.
Students at the Pennsylvania State University, Pomona College, Tufts University, The University of Pennsylvania, and Washington University in St. Louis filed parallel complaints today. Campaigns at Cornell University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Stanford University, Vanderbilt University, and Yale University have previously filed complaints in their respective states; of these schools, Cornell, Harvard, and Princeton have made the commitment to divest from fossil fuels within months of filing.
Over the past year, over 2250 UChicago undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members have signed onto a petition calling on the University to join these institutions in divesting. There has been continued widespread support for fossil fuel divestment at UChicago (both recently and throughout the past decade), but the University has refused to reconsider its fossil fuel investment practices. Despite a student referendum and multiple faculty letters in support of divestment, the Board has refused to engage in any meaningful dialogue.
“By continuing to invest in fossil fuels, the University of Chicago is actively contributing to the climate crisis and jeopardizing its students’ futures,” said Emile Sow, an organizer representing the Divest UChicago campaign. “It’s time for UChicago to join over 100 other universities who have already divested from fossil fuels and stop funding climate change.”
Student organizers can be reached for comment at ejtf.uchicago@gmail.com or (720)210-7694.