ACSR Discusses Spring Agenda

Almost a year after calling on the University to divest of stock in all companies conducting business in South Africa, the 12-member Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility (ACSR) met Thursday night to discuss what issues the group will concentrate on this Spring.

But the ACSR did not come to any conclusions regarding its upcoming activities, according to Jane Sherwin, the group's secretary.

The ACSR, a panel of alumni, faculty, and students, makes recommendations to the governing Corporation on ethical issues arising from University investments, and has been the focus of intense scrutiny during debate over Harvard's holdings in companies doing business in South Africa.

In recent years the ACSR has spent the majority of its time focusing on such investments, but some members of the advisory group have discussed finding that trend and focusing their energies on other shareholder issues.

In addition to the South African-issue, the ACSR is considering resolutions calling for the University to establish specific guidelines for investments in companies with military contracts and companies involved in nuclear energy, Sherwin said.

The ACSR might also restrict itself to only making recommendations to the Corporation on how the University should move on individual proxy votes, Sherwin said. Proxy votes--the majority of which take place in the Spring--provide shareholders with a way of determining corporate policy.

The ACSR has also not concluded whether it will reconsider or vote again on the group's recommendation last Spring to divest of companies in South Africa.