Endowment Divestment Policy

In January 2016, under the direction of the Chair of the Board of Trustees, a Divestment Policy Working Group was created to explore a framework for evaluating divestment requests from the campus community. The working group included representatives from the governing boards, faculty, staff, and students. The group met throughout the spring semester of 2016 incorporating comments from the Whitman community and evaluating frameworks and policies from similar schools and institutions. The Whitman Endowment Divestment Policy was enacted on July 1st, 2016.

In November 2023, the board reaffirmed the documents and incorporated non-material clerical updates.

In the document below, you will find the Whitman Endowment Divestment Policy and frequently asked questions on the process of submitting divestment requests from the Whitman Community. Divestment requests can be submitted to rodegejd@whitman.edu or to the Office of the VPFA in the Memorial Building.

Whitman Endowment Divestment Policy and FAQ’s

Requests

• Student Proposal for the Immediate Divestment from Military Manufacturers (only available to the Whitman community)

Responses

This website will be updated with the status of current and past divestment requests:

• November 9, 2018 - Whitman College Board of Trustees Statement on Divestment from Fossil Fuels
• November 8, 2019 - Whitman College Investment Committee 2019 Divestment Update
• November 6, 2020 - Whitman College Investment Committee 2020 Divestment Update
• November 5, 2021 - Whitman College Investment Committee 2021 Divestment Update
• November 4, 2022 - Whitman College Investment Committee 2022 Divestment Update
• November 8, 2023 - Whitman College Investment Committee 2023 Divestment Update
• January 9, 2024 - Whitman College Board of Trustees Statement on Divestment from Military Manufacturers