The Brandeis University board of trustees has voted to divest of all stock in companies doing business in South Africa, except those providing medical goods and humanitarian services or reporting the news.
Brandeis is the only secular Jewish-sponsored university in the United States.
The university reported that its holdings in relevant companies had a market value of $1.6 million as of March 31 out of an overall endowment of approximately $130 million.
The divestment vote came at the board’s meeting May 16, concluding deliberations that began in 1973 when the trustees committed the university to a policy of socially responsible investment.
The new divestment policy requires that the university move in “an expeditious and timely manner” in selling the relevant stock. A spokesman had no clarification of the divestment timetable.
The board established the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility in 1977–including faculty, students, alumni and staff — to advise on portfolio policy and proxy votes affecting issues of shareholder responsibility. At the same time, Brandeis adopted the Sullivan principles for governing South Africa-related investments, and divested of companies doing business with the South African government or military.
The board adopted additional restrictions last May, leading to the sale of more than $700,000 worth of investments in the fall.
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