Dear Fr. Jenkins,In light of the new presidential administration, our future is in more peril than ever. The interests of fossil fuel companies are now being represented by the secretary of state, the leaders of both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Energy, and the president, who continue to cast doubt on the need to act on climate change. As students, we are concerned by the idle stance of our University, which maintains investments in these companies even as they threaten humanity’s future. The University of Notre Dame, as a premier Catholic institution and moral leader, holds great influence over fellow universities, the Catholic community and people across the world who know and love Notre Dame. We have shown the extent of support for divestment on this campus through marches, rallies and petitions. We are gathered today to ask you, by Feb. 1, 2017, to make a formal statement about the future of our endowment’s fossil fuel investments. We are asking Notre Dame to stand with its students, the environment and our collective future by committing to divestment instead of standing with the denial in Washington.If it is wrong for fossil fuel companies to wreck the climate, then it is wrong for Notre Dame to profit from that wreckage. If divestment is political, then investment is also political. By continuing to financially support the fossil fuel industry, Notre Dame is standing with them, not our collective future.Stand with us as we fight for justice and the preservation of our planet. Stand with us as we fight for what’s right.
Kayla Sperbeck
junior
Adam Wiechman
sophomore
Cam Hart
senior
Jan. 31
