1	A Proposal to Create an Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing
2	Table of Contents
3	Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) “Doing Good while doing Well”
4	Three Tenants of SRI Social Screening Shareholder Advocacy Alternative Investing
5	Social Screening Proactive: Positive Screening Avoidance Screening Re-active: Divestment
6	Qualities of a good “corporate citizen” Respectable employee relations Strong records of community involvement Excellent environmental impact policies and practices Respect for human rights around the world Safe and useful products
7	Examples of Social Screening: The Domini 400 Social Index: Avoids: alcohol, tobacco, gambling, nuclear power, pornography, firearms, and military contractors Rewards: corporate citizenship, diversity, employee/labor relations, environment, safe products Harvard University: Divested all tobacco stocks and has prevented their future purchase US Conference of Catholic Bishops: Screens out firms primarily engaged in the development or production of military weapons
8	Shareholder Advocacy: Shareholders have the right to introduce and vote on proxy (shareholder) resolutions regarding certain company matters Shareholder Advocacy describes investor efforts to submit and vote corporate proxy resolutions as a means of positively influencing company behavior. Dialogue with Corporate Management Phone Calls, Letters, Meetings
9	Shareholder Advocacy Successes: Through shareholder resolutions over 200 corporations were pressured to break all ties with Apartheid South Africa General Motors signed the CERES principles, a corporate environmental code (an environmental code of conduct).
10	Alternative Investing : Providing struggling communities with access to badly needed capital. Tools for building healthy communities: Affordable housing Job creation Micro-loans
11	SRI & Boston College What we know… and what we don’t.
12	What we know: BC has an endowment of approximately $1.1 billion, overseen by 10 money managers. BC pays up to $10,000 annually for the services of the Investor Responsibility Research Center. The Treasurer’s Office provides only a “broad guideline” for voting on shareholder resolutions. No vote is mandatory. BC has no social or environmental screening practices in place.
13	What we don’t know: If or how the money managers vote on resolutions The proxy voting guideline provided to the money managers The publicly traded securities held in the endowment portfolio
14	What we are missing out on! Without an SRI advisory committee… BC will not be using its numerous shares to vote in favor of these 2004 social and environmental shareholder resolutions that would require: Costco Develop a culturally sensitive land acquisition policy, specifically in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Wal-Mart Prepare an Equal Employment Opportunity Report. Prepare a Sustainability Report.
15	Where this leaves us: Boston College is only half living up to its commitment towards social justice!
16	What we should think about: Is business a special or unique game outside other human issues? Do those who work in finance stand outside the Jesuit mission?
17	SRI at Other Universities Who & How?
18	Examples of Universities with Active SRI Advisory Committees Barnard Brown Columbia Dartmouth* Earlham Hampshire Harvard Princeton Smith Stanford Swarthmore U. Minnesota U Penn Vassar Wesleyan* Williams Yale
19	Size doesn’t matter… Endowment Size (FY 2002) Hampshire $30 Million Barnard $126 Million Earlham $214 Million Wesleyan $484 Million Vassar $554 Million Smith $810 Million Swarthmore $894 Million Williams $1.2 Billion Brown $1.4 Billion
20	Portfolio Transparency : These institutions all have various levels of portfolio transparency. All SRI Advisory Committees have access to information regarding endowment securities. Many of these universities also provide this information to their community. Others go as far as making the information completely public.
21	SRI Advisory Committee @ BC What we are asking for…
22	We, the Boston College Community, want Our University to adhere to its Mission Statement and the Jesuit ideals it was founded upon- “Boston College commits itself to the pursuit of a just society”
23	In light of that, we are asking for: 1. Boston College to establish a 12 member Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing that would include: Undergrad Students Graduate Students Faculty & Staff Jesuits 2. Transparency for the committee and the University Community.
24	In light of that, we are asking for: 3. Boston College to use their endowment to partake in shareholder advocacy. 4. Boston College to allow the process to be Open and Democratic. What does Boston College need to hide? Lead the way to a more just society!
25	Get Involved What you can do to help…
26	Learn More Pick up the full proposal on your way out. Talk to someone in GJP that knows more about SRI and our proposal. Research this yourself. There is lots of information and documentation that can be found with just your web browser.
27	Spread the Word Talk about SRI with your friends and family. Communicate the need to join us in this mission to all of the organizations you are involved with. This presentation and our proposal can be found at www.bc.edu/gjp or can be obtained from any member of GJP.
28	Commit to the Initiative: Personally sign the Letter of Proposal to be presented to our Board of Trustees. Get your campus organizations to sign onto the initiative. Vote or run in the first Committee Elections.
29	Thank you for your time, energy, and dedication!