A student organization is asking Ball State to keep its promise to promote clean energy by ceasing investing in fossil fuels.
Go Fossil Free Ball State is a project within Students for Responsible Consumerism created to get the university to disclose the details on its investments through the Ball State Foundation.
Kourtney Dillavou and Michael Russell have taken the lead on the initiative.
“We want Ball State to make parameters so they don’t invest in the fossil fuel industry,” Dillavou said. “We are a sustainable campus and we should be working in that direction.”
The one-semester initiative is being carried out through SRC with members involved in the group.
Diane Berg, president of SRC, said the group wants to raise awareness through its members’ interests.
“We’re still kind of small,” Berg said. “It’s hard without money to grow and advertise. We have some [members] involved in humanitarian [projects], some that are more environmental people — more focused on sustainability.”
Go Fossil Free Ball State has a Facebook page and a petition created to gain the attention of the Ball State Foundation’s Board of Trustees.
Dillavou said she hopes to spark attention before creating an official petition through the school for more transparency in the foundation’s investments.
However, Thomas Heck, Ball State chief investment officer, said there really isn’t much to show.
“The main body of our portfolio is in Perella Weinberg Partners,” Heck said. “They are the external CIO for the body of the investment portfolio. Under them we are invested in many different types of investment vehicles, energy, on the global market.”
The investments that Ball State makes with the foundation funds are broken down into investment allocation targets, which are percentages of investments in a particular industry or good.
This allows Perella Weinberg Partners to invest in any company or product within the parameters Ball State sets.
Heck said the investments Ball State makes can change constantly in order to protect the university’s ability to make money.
With the complications in defining which particular companies are receiving investment, Dillavou said there is a bigger impact than just the fossil-free goal.
“Even if we don’t get the ultimate goal, getting people exposed to it would be good overall for the campus,” Dillavou said. “It isn’t fair to students to make money off of something that could be killing us.”
