The Harvard Management Company’s (HMC) short-term profit seeking and disregard for the social and environmental impact of its investment activities has become all too evident in recent years. We think Harvard’s money matters, and together we aim to change the way Harvard invests it, for a better future for all.

The HMC has invested in companies with principles that do not align with Harvard University’s, such as HEI Hospitality, which busts unions and mistreats its workers; Alpha Natural Resources, which engages in environmentally-destructive practices that threaten human health and society; and Emergent Asset Management, which grabs land from small-holder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.

We seek to end the disconnect between Harvard University’s ethos of serving society at large and the HMC’s disregard for social and environmental impacts in managing the endowment’s $32 billion. We call for structural changes to Harvard’s endowment management to ensure adherence to principles of social responsibility, transparency, and accountability in addition to the fulfillment of its fiduciary responsibility.

Detractors of responsible investing have long argued that while maximizing social good is admirable, it is not worth sacrificing the maximum possible return on investment. Yet a growing body of evidence suggests that integrating environmental, social, and governance criteria does not negatively impact return on investment and actually leads to a more complete understanding of material issues, thereby lowering risk and possibly increasing returns over the long term.

Note: Please click on "Petition Letter" above to read the full list of recommendations, and click here to read an op-ed about the campaign that ran in the Harvard Crimson. If you would like to get more involved, click here to sign up for the Responsible Investment at Harvard (RI@Harvard) mailing list and click here to tell us more about yourself.