TO THE EDITOR:
The Board of Trustees should explain why coal divestment isn’t on today’s meeting agenda.
On Feb. 12, an overwhelming 77 percent of UNC students who voted in campus elections supported a referendum calling on UNC’s endowment to dump its holdings in the worst coal mining and coal-fired utility companies in the country.
The vote was endorsed by all five student body president candidates and numerous student organizations — including the DTH.
On March 5, Student Congress passed a resolution declaring its official support for coal divestment.
This Sierra Student Coalition campaign is national in scope. Student groups at more than 250 colleges and universities are pressuring their schools to divest from fossil fuel companies that are wrecking the planet.
And at other schools around the country, many student groups have been given the opportunity to start a productive dialogue with their trustees.
But at UNC our request (submitted nearly six weeks ago!) to present at the Board of Trustees’ March meeting to the budget, finance and audit committee has been stonewalled.
After repeated attempts to get a response from Chancellor Holden Thorp and the board, the students’ request to be placed on the agenda was officially denied on Monday.
