The protest was planned to bring attention to a number of problems at the private, Jesuit university, including administrators’ response to recent reports of vandalism on campus targeting students of color and LGBTQ students, the Climate Justice group’s ongoing push for the university’s complete divestment from fossil fuels and allegations that Leahy mishandled complaints about inappropriate behavior by a priest who worked at the university nearly 23 years ago.
The allegations sparked ongoing calls for Leahy to resign. A petition signed by about 560 students, parents and faculty members demanding his removal as president says that students have lately felt betrayed by Fr. Leahy and Boston College on a number of issues. Climate Justice, which called for Leahy to leave the institution and circulated the petition, intended to amplify that demand at the demonstration.
Dunster House at Harvard University. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Activists from Boston College and Harvard University are making a new argument in their fight agains climate change: Their schools’ fossil fuel investments aren’t just immoral, they’re illegal.
Harvard students, alumni and professors on Monday filed a complaint with Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey s office, arguing that the university s fossil fuel investment holdings violate the state’s Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act, which outlines certain “charitable” responsibilities for all non-profit institutions. The 56-page complaint was also signed by nine local government officials, including Boston mayoral candidate Michelle Wu.
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Today, we might be breathing a collective sigh of relief but the work has only begun. President Joe Biden faces a wildly daunting first 100 days in office. On the heels of major vaccine developments, Biden committed to getting “at least 100 million Covid-19 vaccine shots into the arms of the American people in the first 100 days.” Beyond this obviously critical effort, there is only so much the new administration can focus on in his first three months. We asked students across the country what they see as the most pressing issue the Biden White House should devote its time and political capital to addressing. We received a wide range of responses, taking in a number of pressing issu
By Jesse Remedios
A coalition of local political leaders, Massachusetts environmental organizations and Boston College alumni filed a complaint December 15 with Massachusetts Attorney General Healy alleging the university s fossil fuel investments violate state law.
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The complainants argue that, as managers of a non-profit educational institution, Boston College s trustees are bound by state law to promote the well-being of students and advance the school s mission of building a just society, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by BU News Service. But investing in the fossil fuel industry, they say, damages the world s natural systems, harms vulnerable communities and imperils the university s financial and physical well-being.
Students walk through a quadrangle on the campus of Boston College in this 2018 photo. (Wikimedia Commons/BCLicious)
Two dozen Boston College alumni and supporting groups this week asked the Massachusetts attorney general to investigate the Jesuit school s investment practices related to fossil fuels and possibly compel the school to end them.
The unusual request represents an escalation in the nearly decadelong campaign led by students to press the Boston College administration and board of trustees to divest its $2.6 billion endowment of fossil fuel stocks. While no current students or faculty signed on to the complaint, the student group Climate Justice at BC supported the move.