Divestment from Fossil Fuels

During the fall semester of 2012, the Unity College Board of Trustees voted unanimously to divest from investments in fossil fuels. As the first institution of higher learning in the United States to divest, Unity College became the standard bearer for a national movement.

At the time of the divestment, President Stephen Mulkey, an internationally recognized scientist, offered two poignant commentaries detailing why the College divested.  The commentaries focused on the need to develop a collective approach to addressing global climate change with systematic, comprehensive and scientifically informed policies.

Dozens of media outlets across the United States covered the ensuing divestment movement, which continues to the present day with student groups petitioning college and university administrations to consider divesting. President Mulkey is providing leadership within higher education concerning the need to address global climate change, most recently serving as a featured speaker at the October 2013 conference of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).

Entitled A New Path for Higher Education, Mulkey’s presentation is an examination of the factors that are limiting the effectiveness of higher education for educating the next generation of problem solvers, environmental stewards, innovators, and entrepreneurs through the framework of sustainability science. He offers a Manifesto for improving higher education in service to the long-term sustainability and viability of planet Earth. 

Some of the media outlets that covered Unity College’s divestment include: