Calling for Accountability in Investments and Institutional Integrity.

We, the undersigned students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Regis University, at this moment call upon the Board of Trustees to publicly divulge a comprehensive list of the companies benefiting from Regis’s investment portfolio. Upon review, the Divestment Coalition will return to the board a list of specific companies from which Regis ought to remove its monies: those that support Israel’s ongoing breaches of international law in its conduct towards the people of Palestine, as well as those that profit from the extraction, production, and sale of fossil fuels—fuels that continue to accelerate environmental degradation and global injustice. The Board and the Coalition are to remain in communication throughout the fulfillment of this commitment to divest.

While we understand the necessity of lucrative investments to sustain the college, we believe securing the school’s financial needs is possible without sacrificing our shared values. The fact that such an ask is radical and its fulfillment challenging speaks to the endemic nature of such ethical sacrifices in contemporary life, especially in economic spheres. Given that the Pope has characterized Israel’s actions in Gaza as “terrorism” (at his Nov. 22, 2023, weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square), no Catholic institution can be faulted for taking the strongest possible stance against the continuation of those atrocities. Instead, it is our moral obligation to do so. Likewise, the Vatican has repeatedly called for urgent action on climate change, acknowledging that our exploitation of the Earth’s resources is a grave moral failing. To build a more just and humane world, Regis must instruct its students both with the voices of faculty in the classroom and through its actions as an institution. We ask you to take the higher road and embrace the difficulties that principled action entails. Since so much of contemporary geopolitics hinges upon the movement of money, divesting from organizations that profit off of the ongoing violations of human rights in the Palestinian territories, as well as those exacerbating the climate crisis, is the most directly impactful action that Regis can take to effect positive change in these global catastrophes.

We hope you receive this message in the spirit in which it was written: that of aching compassion for a population brutalized for decades and presently poised on the brink of violent extermination and deep concern for a planet increasingly rendered uninhabitable by fossil-fueled industries. Our impassioned request is borne of precisely the moral fortitude that Regis prides itself on cultivating in its community. We have faith that the trustees will hear our pleas & act accordingly.

 
Points of action:

Regis University shall write and publish a statement announcing its intentions to divest, condemning US support for the genocidal actions of Israel and reprimanding the repressive actions of other institutions of higher learning in the U.S. within one week of the receipt of this statement.
Regis University shall fully remove its assets from Israeli based corporations within the swiftest feasible timeline.
Regis University shall discontinue any study abroad opportunities in Israel.
Regis University shall divest from all fossil fuel-related holdings and commit to a reinvestment strategy rooted in ecological responsibility and climate justice.
 
In fierce solidarity and hope,
The undersigned students, faculty, staff and alumni of Regis