MINUTES OF THE COMMITTEE ON MISSION AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
 September 18, 2007

PRESENT:  Jonathan Doh, Chair; Antonia Allsman; Nancy Ata; Susan Ciccone; Robert Dormish; Kelly Maguire; Susan Markley; Anna Menard; Alfonso Ortega, and

Sally Scholz

AGENDA

Minutes from the April 11, 2007 were approved.

The first item on the agenda was self-introductions of the members of the Committee.

Old Business:

Socially Responsible Investment Policies

Jonathan provided background information for the new Committee members and then reported on the latest developments. Related documents were distributed with others coming via e-mail. The Senate passed our resolution. The next step will be the implementation process. There is a reporting requirement for our Committee to assess how the implementation is progressing and report our findings to the Senate. Antonia Allsman, Rob Dormish, and Sue Ciccone volunteered to be on a sub-committee to report on the implementation. Jon will send them their “charge”.

Because the University relies on outside investors, our ability to determine and influence our portfolio is limited. However, Jonathan has been appointed to the Committee on Social Responsibility Proxy Votes, a sub-committee of the University Investment Committee and they recently had their first meeting. He described how the proxy vote works and how they hope to influence companies and act as an advocate for changes in company social responsibilities.

Jon will e-mail us additional documents, including the Bishop’s statement.

Sudan Resolution

Sally reported on the Senate’s reaction to our “symbolic” resolution against the war and conditions in Darfur. The Senate had mixed reactions to our resolution. At the same time, a student group S.T.A.N.D. came up with a longer resolution. Jon would prefer to go forward with our shorter document which includes guidelines for divesting from companies supporting the Darfur conflict. He suggested that this was a perfect example of how our Socially Responsible guidelines could have an impact on our investments.

He will e-mail us a revised document on Darfur that he and Sally will work on. He asked that we all vote on this document by e-mail, before the Senate meeting in October.

Child Care

Sally reported that she and Rachel developed a document giving the history of this issue, along with some recommendations. Jon said Ken Valosky might consider making child care a targeted benefit.  More meetings and discussions are to follow before any resolution can be reached on this question.

Other Issues

Jon is looking for additional issues to consider in the future. E-mail him any suggestions.

Meeting times- Jon suggested that we could continue to meet monthly or maybe just 3-4 times per year, relying more on e-mail.

For now, we will meet on Wednesday, October 10, 2007 at 4:00 p.m.

Maybe someone from Ken Valosky’s office will attend and discuss the child care issue with us.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by

Susan Markley

Falvey Memorial Library