In 2017, the college’s board of trustees voted to divest all the school’s endowment funds from fossil fuel-related investments. About $823,000 of the college’s $28 million endowment was invested in fossil fuels, which the vast majority of scientists say has caused global climate change.
The student-led effort had been years in the making, said Northland alum and former student body president Kinsey Neal. She was one of four students who presented their case for disinvestment to the board of trustees in 2017.
“This conversation had been going on on campus for generations of students,” Neal said. “My friends and I worked very hard on this and were really intentional about selling it to the board, but it was really a community effort.”
As a first-year student at Northland, Neal joined a group that was working on divestment. Becoming student body president opened a network of access to the board and administration, so she took a special aim at making the long-held student dream become a reality.
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