Faculty Letter In Support of Socially Responsible Investment

To President Brown, the Boston University Board of Trustees, and the Boston University Community:

We, the undersigned BU faculty members, urge the formation of a Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Committee at Boston University. The purpose of an SRI committee is to promote environmental sustainability, peaceful technology, and good labor practices, while screening out companies that violate the values of our school. Other universities and colleges have had SRI committees for years, including Brown, Tufts, Amherst, the University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University. Such committees have achieved remarkable success in helping to end South African apartheid. Moreover, they have helped convince companies to make positive changes, such as Nike's agreement to allow third party factory inspectors, Home Depot's commitment to stop selling old growth wood, and Arco's ending of its operations in Burma.

We appreciate that BU is moving toward more ethical policies, and believe that an SRI committee is the next step. As BU embraces sustainability -- creating a committee for the purpose, encouraging green building and promoting energy conservation-- the Boston University community has gained pride in their school's ethical behavior. We believe that the university should continue this trend by encouraging ethical behavior on a global level through an SRI committee. SRI policies assure donors and students that BU revenue and resources will be employed and invested in an ethical manner while contributing to a norm of rewarding companies that act ethically. Institutionalizing SRI policies will enhance BU's image and encourage donations to the university from alumni and philanthropists alike.

Signed,

Aaron Garrett, Associate Professor of Philosophy

Allison Adair, Senior Lecturer, CAS Writing Program

Assaf Kfoury, Professor of Computer Science

Catherine Caldwell-Harris, Professor of Psychology

Catherine Connell, Assistant Professor of Sociology

Chris Walsh, BU Writing Program Associate Director and Assistant Professor of English

David Bronstein, Professor of Philosophy

David Lyons, Professor of Law and Philosophy

David Roochnik, Professor of Philosophy

Deborah Belle, Director of the Women's Studies Program; Professor of Psychology

Emily Barman, Associate Professor of Sociology

Eugene Green, Professor of English

Irene Gendzier, Professor of Political Science

Jay Corrin, Chair of the Division of Social Science; Professor of Social Science College of General Studies

Julian Go, Professor of Sociology

Juliet Floyd, Professor of Philosophy

Kathleen Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology

Leslie Epstein, Professor of English

Marilyn Halter, Professor of History and American Studies

Matthew Smith, Associate Professor of English

Natalie McKnight, Chair and Full Professor, Humanities Division College of General Studies

Neta C. Crawford, Professor of Political Science

Nina Silber, Professor of History

Parker Shipton, Professor of Anthropology

Peter Yeager, Associate Professor of Sociology

Pankaj Mehta, Associate Professor of Physics

Ruha Benjamin, Assistant Professor of Sociology and African American Studies

Steven Kalberg, Associate Professor of Sociology

Susan Eckstein, Professor of Sociology

Susan Akram, Professor of Law

Susanne Sreedhar, Associate Professor of Philosophy

Timothy Longman, Professor of Political Science