As part of the university’s Responsible Investing Policy, Principal and Vice-Chancellor Patrick Deane has established a Review Committee for Responsible Investing to consider a special request submitted by a campus community group that asks the university to divest its pooled endowment and investment funds from specific companies conducting business in or with the State of Israel. 

“We are fortunate to have an established policy and structured procedures that enable a thoughtful, detailed, and consultative review of our university’s investments,” says Principal Deane. “The review committee has been established and will commence its work over the summer months; we are committed to transparency as the review committee advances its work.”

The review committee’s membership has been selected following the process detailed in the Responsible Investing Policy and it includes a designated mix of members of the Board of Trustees as specified within Procedure 2 (Special Requests), along with members of the university selected to consider the matter in a fair and objective manner.

The review committee is tasked with examining the special request and formulating recommendations to the Principal. As part of this process, the review committee will arrange for a delegation of the campus group that submitted the request to present it for further consideration and coordinate additional consultations to ensure the committee considers the full range of perspectives and views from across the campus community. 

This work will occur over a period beginning this summer and concluding during the next academic year. This timeline will ensure due process and permit opportunities for comprehensive consultation with all interested parties, balanced with the desire for an expeditious resolution on this matter.

Once the committee provides its recommendations and delivers its report to the Principal, the report will be sent to the Board of Trustees’ Investment Committee. Final approval of any recommendation rests with the Board of Trustees. As part of the policy, recommendations of the review committee, along with the rationale, will be publicly reported by the university.

The Review Committee for Responsible Investing members include:

• Jim Leech, Chancellor Emeritus (Committee Chair)
• Todd Mattina, Chair, Investment Committee, Board of Trustees
• Vicki Remenda, Faculty Trustee
• Nancy Evans, Staff Trustee
• Niki Boytchuk-Hale, Rector and Student Trustee
• Bob Watts, Trustee, Governance & Nominating Committee, Board of Trustees and Adjunct Professor, School of Policy Studies
• Don Raymond, Chair Emeritus, Board of Trustees and Investment Committee
• Lynne-Marie Postovit, Professor and Head, Biomedical and Molecular Sciences
• Jonathan Rose, Professor and Head, Department of Political Studies

Non-voting advisors:

• Donna Janiec, Vice-Principal (Finance and Administration)
• Michael Fraser, Vice-Principal (University Relations)
• Heather Woermke, Associate Vice-Principal (Finance and Administration)
• Brian O’Neill, Director, Investment Services

More information on the review committee’s activities will be shared as details become available.