L&C Divestment Policy Highlights

As the result of a collaborative effort between students, faculty, the Board of Trustees, and the administration, Lewis & Clark’s fossil fuel divestment policy now includes these guidelines:

• Lewis & Clark’s endowment shall not directly own any securities publicly issued by companies in the fossil fuel industry, specifically the largest owners of coal, oil, and natural gas reserves (“fossil fuel companies”).
• Starting immediately, Lewis & Clark will make no investments in any new fund that has exposure to fossil fuel companies.
• Over the next five years (before December 31, 2022), Lewis & Clark will eliminate exposure to fossil fuel companies held indirectly through public commingled strategies. In addition, the college will exit all private limited partnership investments holding fossil fuel companies as they mature, which will take more than five years.
• Consistent with the college’s existing ESG [Environmental, Social, and Governance] policy, Lewis & Clark will actively engage with existing investment managers to encourage them to adopt fossil fuel–free investment options.
• Lewis & Clark will provide an annual update to the broader campus community on holdings of fossil fuel securities in the endowment portfolio.

“When national politics are aggressively undermining U.S. commitments to fight climate change, it is up to local jurisdictions and institutions like ours to lead. I applaud the trustees for their action. We must be more than pioneers by name, we must be pioneers by nature.”

—Wim Wiewel, Lewis & Clark President