Middlebury College to hold student panel discussion on divestment

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Middlebury College will hold a student panel discussion on divestment and the college’s endowment on Sunday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Dana Auditorium. The panel is open to the public.

This event is an opportunity to hear diverse perspectives from Middlebury students on the issue of divestment, endowment management, and environmental policy.  Panelists include:  sophomore Jeannie Bartlett, an environmental studies and conservation biology major, co-president of the Socially Responsible Investing Club, and a member of the Advisory Council on Socially Responsible Investing; sophomore Teddy Smyth, an environmental studies and policy major and student organizer for Divest for Our Future; junior Ryan Kim, an economics major and a member of the Student Investment Club and the Student Government Association Finance Committee; junior Ben Wiggins, a political science major and economics minor, and a member of the Student Investment Club; senior Zach Drennen, a double major in political science and economics, columnist for The Middlebury Campus, and co-author of the forthcoming book “The End is Not Near: How Energy Innovation Can Unlock Local Economies and Avert Climate Catastrophe;” senior Janet Bering, an environmental studies and biology major and member of the Environmental Council; and senior Michael Patterson, a classical studies major with an economics minor and an active private investor.

The panel will be moderated by former Vermont governor and Middlebury executive-in-residence, Jim Douglas, a 1972 graduate of the college. Douglas has also served for many years as the moderator of the Town of Middlebury’s annual meeting.

This event is the second in a series of discussions devoted to the college’s endowment management policies and practices. The first took place Jan. 22 when a group of panelists with a broad range of experience in endowment management and environmental policy gathered for a public discussion.

More information about the divestment discussion at Middlebury is available online:  http://www.middlebury.edu/offices/administration/vpfin/endowment. A link to a recording of the April 28 panel will also be available at this site.