Note on SRI

For information regarding our recently submitted response to the Sustainable Endowments Institute survey, please click here.

For a White Paper report on SRI at Dickinson College, please click  here  (Please note: this document is a PDF file and requires Acrobat Reader to view.).

For a visual representation of the Triple Bottom Line, please click  here.  

For a downloadable information and reference packet (used by the SRI Discussion Group), please click  here .

Socially responsible investment (SRI) is a broad term that covers a range of investment strategies, from divestment to proxy voting to screening stock options. Generally, investors who practice SRI favor companies that promote human rights, environmental stewardship, and consumer protection and avoid those with questionable ethical or moral practices and the industries involved with military spending, abortion, alcohol, and gambling.

President William G. Durden called for the creation of a Socially Responsible Investment Discussion Group in his Fall 2007 convocation speech:

“…I have asked that a special study group be formed to familiarize its members—students, faculty, staff, alumni and trustees—and eventually, the entire campus community with the College’s investment policy and portfolio. I will ask this group to build consensus on what 'socially responsible' investing truly means to our community in the context of an extremely complex world where one person’s social justice or sustainability can be another’s condemnation."

"I will ask this study group to create an appreciation on campus for the elements and implications of various national and international working models that are in the process of being developed and tested. These models address the delicate balance that must be struck between sustainability and socially sensitive investment and the demand upon non-profit educational institutions to produce robust returns on endowment investment for the purpose of completing their own worthy and socially just missions…”

After much discussion and debate, Dickinson College has committed to pursuing the Triple Bottom Line model of fiscal planning. This method attempts to maximize economic, environmental, and social gains in order to establish and maintain a sustainable financial portfolio.

Please take a look at Committee’s page for more information and explore the Engagement section to find out what the College is currently doing to further SRI efforts.