The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) passed a resolution Sunday supporting the creation of a proxy voting advisory committee that would consider ethical issues concerning the University's investments and make recommendations.
According to the resolution, which was sponsored by the Princeton Coalition Advocating Investor Responsibility (P-CAIR), the proxy voting advisory committee is designed to promote social and ethical investment by the Princeton University Investment Company (PRINCO).
The committee will research any controversial voting issues that arise to determine if the investments adhere to the University's community values.
Ben Shell '05, the founder of P-CAIR, hopes that the committee will include students, faculty and alumni who will serve as ethical liaisons to PRINCO.
"Because Princeton has the fourth largest endowment in the country, we are socially responsible to care about this issue," he said.
Jesse Creed '07, vice president of USG, attended the meeting at which the resolution was discussed and endorsed.
"The role of USG is twofold: first, to lobby administration to enact a specific plan and then, to foster a good campus community to the extent that we can," Creed said. "This initiative is exactly in the domain of USG to change the proxy voting policy."
Though the resolution was passed, both Creed and Shell noted that it had come under close scrutiny.
"I was surprised at the amount of opposition to it," Shell said. "But the fact that it was endorsed by USG is a strong statement that the resource committee will have to respect."
The passage of this resolution and an ongoing P-CAIR petition with more than 400 signatures signal that the committee's creation is well on its way.
At the Council of the Princeton University Community (CPUC) meeting Monday, Provost Christoper Eisgruber announced that Princeton's Resources Committee has been asked by the Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees to review the proxy voting policy with respect to the shares of stock owned through the endowment.
The Resources Committee, which is chaired by Professor Henry Farber, will be conducting the review this May to present to the Finance Committee and the CPUC.
Despite the long process ahead, Shell is realistic about P-CAIR's goals.
"Our immediate goal was to have the Resource Committee consider our idea," he said. "What PCAIR is trying to do now is show students that they can have a voice in how we deal with the ethical implications of our investments and show the Resources Committee what the student body thinks should happen."
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