Divestment
Massachusetts Court Dismisses Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign Lawsuit Over University Investments
A Massachusetts judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit from the Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign over Harvard’s investments in companies with ties to the prison industry.
Ten Stories That Shaped 2020
The past twelve months were a year like no other for Harvard and the world. Under the backdrop of a once-in-a-century pandemic, students took classes from all over the globe, while pushing for social change at the University and on the political stage. Here, The Crimson reviews ten stories that defined 2020 at Harvard.
Divestment Movement Wins Some, Loses Some
Harvard’s long-lived divestment movement this year gained powerful allies among the faculty and placed supporters in the upper echelons of University leadership, but its ultimate goal pushing the University to completely divest from fossil fuel companies remains unfulfilled.
Divest Student Activists Meet with Bacow, Harvard Corporation Committee for First Time in More Than a Year
Five representatives of Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard met with University President Lawrence S. Bacow and several members of the Harvard Corporation in a closed-door meeting last week.
Freshman Divest Rally 2
A student makes a sign at a Divest Harvard rally in front of Widener Library.
Freshmen Rally for Divest Harvard Movement
The rally was organized by freshmen who are members of the student group Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard to re-emphasize the group’s commitment to the movement, even during the pandemic.
Freshman Divest Rally 1
Students on campus held a pro-divestment rally on the steps of Widener Library, one of Divest Harvard's first in-person events this fall.
Nearly One Third of Harvard Undergrads Favor Proposals to Abolish or Defund HUPD
Roughly a third of undergraduates report favoring proposals to abolish or defund the Harvard University Police Department, according to a survey by The Crimson.
Panel Examines Combating Climate Change Through Private and Public Reforms
Climate leaders, Harvard faculty, and current students discussed the governmental actions and economic reforms needed to address climate change during an online webinar on Thursday.
Harvard and HPDC Attorneys Square Off Over Prison Investments in Lawsuit Oral Arguments
Attorneys and activists squared off in state court on Tuesday over Harvard’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought against the University by the Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign.
Panelists Talk Climate Change, Racial Justice and COVID-19 in Inaugural HAA Climate Conversation
Harvard alumni and climate activists identified three central challenges facing the world today — the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and systemic racism — in the Harvard Alumni Association’s inaugural “Climate Conversation” event Wednesday afternoon.
Divestment Groups Cheer Harvard Forward Victories in Overseers Election
For over a decade, student groups have worked to advance fossil fuel divestment at Harvard by meeting with University presidents and holding demonstrations in Harvard Yard. Now three of their own will sit on the University’s second-highest governing body.
Current and Former Harvard Alumni Association Leaders Criticize Harvard Forward’s Board of Overseers Campaign
A group of alumni volunteers — including past and present members of the Harvard Alumni Association’s Executive Committee — penned a letter to other alumni criticizing tactics employed by the group Harvard Forward in this year’s Board of Overseers’ election.
Students and Alumni Rally Outside University President's House to Call for the Abolition of Campus Police
Harvard students and alumni demonstrated outside University President Lawrence S. Bacow’s house Tuesday evening to call for the abolition of police on campus and the divestment of the school’s endowment from the prison industry.
Harvard Files Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit over Prison Investments
Harvard filed a motion Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign over the University’s alleged investments in companies tied to the prison industry.
Divest Harvard and Harvard Forward Convene To Discuss Harvard’s Responsibility to a World in Crisis
As protests against police brutality unfolded in the middle of a global pandemic that has claimed over 373,000 lives globally, representatives of Divest Harvard and Harvard Forward convened a livestreamed discussion Sunday afternoon.
Experts Say Harvard May Encounter ‘Pitfalls’ On its Way To A Greenhouse Gas-Neutral Endowment
Harvard pledged last month to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in its endowment by 2050. But experts say a number of intermediate steps may pose logistical and environmental challenges for the University.
Responding to University Carbon-Neutral Pledge, Activist Groups Reiterate Divestment Demands
After Harvard pledged to transition its endowment to carbon-neutral by 2050, fossil fuel divestment activists wrote a letter to University administrators Wednesday urging them to take “drastic climate action.”
Harvard Medical School Faculty Pen Letter to President Bacow Expressing Disappointment with Endowment Decision
Roughly 170 members of the Harvard Medical School faculty and their supporters sent a letter to University President Lawrence S. Bacow on Sunday criticizing the school’s plan to commit its $40.9 billion endowment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Petition Calls on Harvard Law School Admins to Drop Investigation into Student Protesters
Harvard Law School affiliates are circulating a petition calling for the Law School Administrative Board to stop investigating three students involved in an October 26 silent protest by the Harvard Prison Divestment Campaign.
Divest Harvard Holds Virtual Earth Day Rally
What becomes of divestment activism after Harvard unveiled a timeline for its endowment to go carbon neutral?
Yale Forward Launches ‘Sister Campaign' Promoting Climate-Focused Trustee Candidate
Following in the footsteps of a successful petition campaign by Harvard Forward, Yale Forward — a student and alumni group working to bring attention to climate change and alumni representation within the school’s governance boards — launched their campaign to elect 2015 alum Maggie Thomas to the Yale Corporation Wednesday.
Divest Harvard Calls University’s Carbon-Neutral Endowment Commitment 'Insufficient'
Divest Harvard, a student group calling on the University to divest from the fossil fuel industry, argues that Harvard’s commitment to making its endowment carbon-neutral by 2050 falls short of achieving their goal of total withdrawal from the industry.
Harvard Endowment Commits to Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050
The Harvard Management Company has committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, University President Lawrence S. Bacow wrote in a message to faculty Tuesday afternoon.
Harvard Faculty Mixed on Carbon-Neutral Endowment Commitment
Though most faculty members support the University’s commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from its endowment by 2050, they are divided over whether the plan — announced on Tuesday — goes far enough.