At first, this op-ed was going to be a call to arms, asking our fellow seniors to boycott the senior gift drive. As members of Amherst’s divestment campaign, we planned to refrain from donating to Amherst College until the college has divested, a pledge that many other environmentally-conscious alumn have already taken. Amherst still has many investments tied to the fossil fuel industry, and we felt that it was important that our class does not give our dollars to the companies that are destroying our planet.
In March, members of the Green Amherst Project met with members of the investment committee on the board of trustees to discuss their recent statement on sustainability. In their statement, the board articulated lofty goals that included plans to push Amherst towards “carbon neutrality,” the proposal of a green “revolving fund” and a commitment to “environmental best practices” in their investing policy. Paired with these three goals was a dismissal, though not a direct rejection, of the Green Amherst Project’s call for coal divestment.
