MINUTES OF THE COMMITTEE ON MISSION AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

April 11, 2007

PRESENT:      Jonathan Doh, Chair: Ashish Desai; Susan Markley; Tom Mogan; Brian Murray; Terry Nance; Michael Raulli; Rachel Schaller; Sally Scholz; Deepak Sharma, and Gavin Tully

AGENDA

Minutes from the February 13, 2007 meeting were approved.

Old Business:

Socially Responsible Investment Policies

Jonathan gave the Committee the latest updates on the Board of Trustees Investment Policy Guidelines. He also distributed two documents:

1.         Villanova University, Social Responsibility Investment Policy and Procedure

                        - The Investment Committee is quite supportive of this document.

                        - Because the University invests in mutual funds that are managed by

                                    outside investors, we are limited in our ability to divest from

                                    companies we do not want.

2.         Villanova University, Committee on Social Responsibility Proxy Votes

                        - This document is in the earliest stages of development, but it hopes

                                    to eventually influence companies and act as an advocate for

                                    changes in company social responsibilities.   

3.         The Charter of the Investment Committee is still being developed but

            document #1 will eventually be folded into this 3^rd document.

Our subcommittee will now review these documents and decide whether to make recommendations.  They will continue to assess the progress of the University’s work in  this area.

Child Care Progress and Next Steps

Rachel and Sally reported on the latest developments with our Committee’s letter on child care.

Other Issues

Sally reiterated that many students are very concerned about the Darfur situation*, but the University administration has not shown the same interest. She asked how our Committee might get involved. Mike promised to send us all a document outlining some guidelines when proposing public statements from the University about global, national or local issues.** 

Next Year’s Agenda

Jonathan said we might consider next year making the Darfur crisis a year-long issue, similar to the One Book Villanova project. The whole University could work on it, presenting class projects, seminars, presentations, readings, etc.

Sally offered to present us with some plans for approaching the University

with this idea. ***

This is the last meeting for the semester. Jonathan will work on setting up our schedule for next year.

* Sally later distributed by e-mail the student group’s resolution on divestment that was given to Ken Valosky. She thought our Committee might seriously consider endorsing it or signing on as co-sponsors of the resolution.

** Mike also e-mailed his document to the Committee the next day.

*** Sally e-mailed a first draft of a resolution on Darfur in which she included the establishment of a $5000 fund to encourage departments and programs to host lectures and events on Darfur.

The meeting was adjourned for the semester.

Respectfully submitted by

Susan Markley

Falvey Memorial Library