August 16, 2017
EDUCATIONCAREERS Special Edition
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
Page 11
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
Portland Community College recently adopted a policy to divest from companies or funds that harm the planet or people thanks to PCC students who
sought the ban. Pictured (from left) are some of the individuals who participated in the effort, including student Alex Bell-Johnson (from left), PCC
Sustainability Manager Brian Schoon, and students Kien Truong, Molly Walker and Sebastian Scholene.
Students for a Sustainable Economy
Effort brings
new investment
policy at PCC
Student leaders at Portland Commu-
nity College were given credit when
PCC recently adopted a new policy not
to invest in companies or funds that
harm the planet or people.
The PCC Board passed a resolution
this summer to divest college money
from fossil fuel-producing and social-
ly irresponsible companies and invest-
ments.
“I believe deeply that passing this di-
vestment resolution was the right thing
to do,” said Board Chair Kali Thorne-
Ladd. “In its commitment to equity
and sustainability, PCC must support
operational practices that model the
sustainable use of resources, as well as
advance the promotion and protection
of human rights and fundamental free-
doms.”
The movement to divest was started
by student leaders like Alex Bell-John-
son in early 2016, and supported and fa-
cilitated by Briar Schoon, the college’s
sustainability manager. They partnered
with the climate action group 350pdx.
org and PCC’s financial leaders to re-
view the college’s current portfolio.
“We didn’t have to sell it to college
leadership,” Bell-Johnson said. “PCC
already didn’t have direct investments
in fossil fuel companies. The policy
serves more as assurance that this will
be the standard process, now and in the
future.”
The college’s current investment
portfolio balance is about $220 million.
PCC Treasury Manager Dee Wilson
said the college approaches its fiscal
obligations responsibly, only investing
“in very high quality instruments.”
“When Alex and Briar came to me
to talk about divestment, I was in-
trigued,” Wilson said. “We were al-
ready careful about our investment
choices and favored those that sup-
ported the college’s sustainability
goals, so their idea was a natural fit.
Personally, it’s really rewarding to
know that the values I hold close will
be reflected in the college’s invest-
ment holdings long after I’m gone. It’s
a good feeling.”
Also, buy-in for the policy was
helped by PCC President Mark Mit-
sui’s service on the climate leadership
steering committee of Second Nature,
an organization whose member institu-
tions work to lower the impact of their
carbon footprint. It has pushed to have
schools divest their portfolios of pol-
luters.