Introduction

About

TheResponsible Endowment Coalition is a diverse network of students, alumni and faculty from across the country dedicated to advancing socially and environmentally responsible investing (SRI) in college and university endowments.

The Responsible Endowment Coalition was founded by successful student advocates from Barnard College, Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmore College and Williams College to help other students by providing a single-sourcelocation for news, resources, and advice on SRI in higher education.

What is SRI?

Socially responsible investing (SRI), the use of investments for social good, is an incredible tool to promote economic and social democracy. It convinced Home Depot to stop using old growth timber, RJR Nabisco to discontinue its "Joe Camel" advertisements, and ARCO to withdraw operations from Burma, among other major victories, and is gaining popularity as a tool for activists.

SRI began with divestment from companies involved in the Vietnam War, and gained fame in the 1980's as individuals, institutional investors, and universities came together to divest from corporations supporting apartheid in South Africa. These same investors began to experiment with various ways of using their assets to promote social change. Currently, one in nine dollars under professional management is invested in a socially screened fund. SRI is not a fringe movement, but an increasingly important way for people to ensure that their investments are serving their social goals.