Divestment

Schedule of events supporting the divestment of South Africa, ca. 1990s.

The SGA was urged to pass a resolution calling divestment, 2006.

The mid-1980s saw the building awareness of Simmons College faculty and students regarding institutional stock investments in South Africa—investments that supported the Apartheid regimes. In 1985, faculty member Laurie Crumpacker wrote a letter to the Simmons Corporation asking the College to fully divest from South Africa, which was supported by many members of the Simmons community. In 1986, the Corporation voted to divest in compliance with the Sullivan Principles, a set of corporate codes of conduct developed in 1977 to promote corproate social responsibility. However, the College still held a few investments in South Africa. 

In response to learning about these investments, Simmons students and faculty started a movement to eliminate the remainder of these stocks from the College portfolio. A campaign in the 1988-1989 school year to fully divest Simmons College assets was pushed to the Board of Trustees. However, in 1990 the Board voted against further divestment. Following the vote, The Simmons News organized a day long “South Africa Awareness Day” to increase community engagement.

Members from the Simmons College at City Hall Plaza for DarfurFast, 2006.

The Board of Trustees voted to divest from companies doing business with Sudan, 2007.

Calls for divestment came again in 2006. Members of the faculty urged the Student Government Association (SGA) to pass a resolution calling for Simmons College to divest from companies that do business with Sudan or with the Sudanese government in response to the Darfur genocide. Members of the Simmons College STAND chapter and the Amnesty International group joined over 100 other students and activists at City Hall Plaza for DarfurFast. The Simmons News also published articles relating to the situation in Darfur, as well as editorials focusing on why Simmons College should divest from Sudan. In response to community engagement, the Board of Trustees voted in favor of divestment in 2007.