One of the reasons Brown University has such a a huge endowment is it invests in some pretty shady areas of the economy, one of which is the resource extraction sector. But a teach-in at Brown today hopes to call attention to why this isn’t such a good investment for the Ivy League institution.
Here’s the press release from Brown Divest Coal, a group that is calling on new President Christina Paxson to stop investing Brown’s money in the “Filthy Fifteen,” businesses Brown invests in that are bad for the planet:
Three Brown professors and a coal activist from West Virginia will highlight the environmental, social, and political impacts of the Coal industry at a teach in on Thursday organized by the Brown Divest Coal Campaign. The Brown Divest Coal Campaign is a new campus effort with the support of over 1400 students calling on president Christina Paxson to divest the University’s endowment holdings from the ‘Filthy Fifteen’ – the ten dirtiest US utilities and the five least responsible coal mining companies.
WHAT: In order to educate students and the community about the new campaign, three professors will discuss different aspects of the coal industry, including professor Dawn King, who will speak about coal’s global reach and professor Tim Herbert speaking about coal and its links to climate change. Dustin Steele, an anti-mountaintop removal activist from West Virginia, will speak about the impact of the coal industry on his community.
WHO: Professors Dawn King, Tim Herbert, and Stephanie Malin; coal activist Dustin Steele.
WHEN: Thursday, October 25th at 7:00 PM – 8:15 PM.
WHERE: List Art Room 120 (Access Via 64 College St) Google Map
VISUALS: Speakers will appear on stage with presentations. At the end of the presentations, campaign members will gather on stage with a banner to answer questions about the campaign and engage with the audience.
That’s great.
Let’s try to get together to do something true and positive.
And to argue about how best to deal with dispossessed people, also,
in order to give them a positive vibe about alliances for the future.
We need to move forward
We need to move forward
toward
toward
the tow yard
the tow yard
dredge the canals three miles in every direction
and see
maybe, you’ll feel the flow
the magnetism
the aurora borealis
the flow that comes with the flow of water
a cheap flight to iceland
look to the new
find what’s true
and it bring back to you, my people
you, my people.
douse out the coal fires
to replace them with what?
Be bold in your answer:
To replace them with power
still unconcentrated, still unconsecrated
from the sun
and the water
the sky
the tides
the colors
the magnetic spectrum
and spectrums beyond
the word. speak it as you know it to be right.
but my truth is
clean and blue
clean and blue
clean and blue and green
mandelbrot, too
pattern recognition
design for green humanity
emerson, you built new england
by seeing through
seeing right through
to the blue.
see it through to some rare shade of blue
chase it through the stratosphere
and the blue black of space
fate always awaits
find the green and the blue;
the carbon steel
and a feel for the real
the carbon steel
blue
with a feel for the real.
the carbon steel and a feel for the real
the carbon steel and a feel for the real
the power that heals
the power that heals
the power that heals.