Word: portfolios
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...sparked a campus debate on how politicized, if at all, the Harvard endowment should be. The problem with seeking maximum returns in investments is that companies like PetroChina, Sinopec, Unocal that either indirectly facilitate or are directly complicit in grave human rights abuses remain in Harvard’s portfolio. Fortunately, last year the University agreed that Harvard must ensure that its money is not used to facilitate morally bankrupt activity. Citing President Derek C. Bok’s precedent that divestment is reasonable in “exceptional circumstances,” the Corporation decided to divest from PetroChina...
...basis. This “Bok system” has several problems. First, the “exceptional circumstances” criteria for divestment forces the ethical responsibility debate to be rehashed from scratch each time a questionable investment is discovered in Harvard’s portfolio. Second, the current system means that reviews often do not occur because they are reactionary. This means the overall process is slow and arduous. For instance, Congress’ declaration of genocide in Sudan was not enough for the University to reconsider its portfolio—six months of pressure from a mobilized...
There is no way of avoiding confrontations on ethical issues regarding investments—students have and will continue to force them on the administration as long as the President and Corporation fail to give real power to the ACSR to actively monitor Harvard’s portfolio. Bitter and divisive fights with students and alumni are not worth the cost—last year’s Senior Gift controversy as well as the shantytown protests over apartheid at commencements in the 1980s could have been avoided if a body like the ACSR were continuously screening investments...
...brother-in-law Priawpan Damapong serves as deputy chief of the national police. And long-running allegations of corruption in a contract to supply baggage scanners at Bangkok's new airport continue to haunt the government. The then transportation minister, Suriya Jungrungreangkit (who now holds the industry portfolio), denied any impropriety by officials...
...statement.” The ACSR is a 12-person panel of students, faculty, and alumni that makes recommendations to the Harvard Corporation on ethical issues surrounding Harvard’s investments. However, Harvard has yet to divest from other Sudan-linked companies remaining in its portfolio. Some of Harvard’s peer institutions have already taken the lead in divesting entirely from firms with ties to the Sudanese government. In June 2005, Stanford announced its decision to sell all its direct stakes in corporations linked to the Sudanese government, including PetroChina and Sinopec. Amherst College made a similar...