Johns Hopkins University's Public Interest Investment Advisory Committee (PIIAC) released its final report today regarding a divestment proposal submitted in August, including the PIIAC's decision declining to refer the proposal to a board of trustees subcommittee.
The proposal, submitted by JHU community members representing a group called the Hopkins Justice Collective, asked that the university divest its endowment "from companies with ties to the State of Israel, prioritizing those directly involved in the State's weapons engineering, manufacturing, and related financial sectors" and "disclose all current and future financial investments of JHU's endowment." The committee's report outlines its review process and the reasoning behind its decision, which includes the lack of consensus within the JHU community.
"Johns Hopkins is a large, pluralistic community with more than 30,000 students, 20,000 employees, and 260,000 alumni," the report states. "Together with the Johns Hopkins Health System, which also receives support from the university's investment portfolio, JHU is the largest private employer in the state of Maryland. The committee found that, while the petitioners demonstrated interest from some members of our community, there is not consensus among our more than 300,000 faculty, staff, students, and alumni on the proposed action. In addition, there is strong opposition from some members of our community—as well as more broadly across higher education and our society writ large."
Additional considerations cited by the committee include potential risks to the university—financial and reputational—if JHU were to proceed with the proposed action. This includes politicization of the endowment "in a way that conflicts with both the university's core commitment to free inquiry and its obligation to foster a diversity of perspectives within our academic community." The PIIAC also noted that while risks associated with divestment action were high for the university, the proposed action would have little to no impact on the companies named in the proposal.
PIIAC members were selected to represent the Johns Hopkins community and include a broad cross-section of university stakeholders. The provost and the executive vice president for finance and administration appointed the committee from a pool of nominees solicited from the deans' offices, Student Affairs, the Johns Hopkins University Council, the Faculty Budget Advisory Committee, the Staff Advisory Council, and the Cross-Institutional Student Advisory Committee. PIIAC members serve three-year terms.
The university's board of trustees created the PIIAC to advise them on responsible investment decisions for the university's endowment managed by the JHU Investment Office—particularly investments that may cause a substantial social impact. The investment-review process has been in place for more than 30 years, and the PIIAC has existed as a standing committee since 2014, when trustees established it and approved a revised Statement on Investment Responsibility Regarding Separately Invested Endowment Funds.
The current committee reconvened in June 2024 and met 10 times to discuss the proposal on an expedited timeline. PIIAC chair and JHU trustee Charles Scheeler thanked committee members for their service.
"It's a testament to the caliber of the Hopkins community that a group like this can come together and respectfully work through an incredibly fraught, divisive issue," Scheeler said. "I'm grateful to everyone who is serving on this committee for their thoughtfulness in this particular review and for their commitment to the process as a whole."
The committee considered various perspectives on the proposal and also examined past divestment decisions, which number just three in 50 years: related to South African apartheid in 1986, tobacco products in 1991, and thermal coal in 2017. The committee emphasized that it was "not expressing an opinion on the arguments put forth in the proposal nor endorsing a perspective regarding the conflict in Gaza and the Middle East. Rather, the committee is offering a carefully considered response only to the petitioners' requests" around divestment and disclosure.
The PIIAC's full report, along with the summary cover letter, is available on the PIIAC website.
In addition to its decision regarding the divestment proposal, the PIIAC asked that the board of trustees reexamine the current process given that the modern structure of endowment investments "makes divestment of any kind costly, difficult, and highly impractical."
It also urged the university "to identify other channels through which interested community members can support people impacted by the conflict in the Middle East in ways that align with the university's policies and its core mission of teaching, research, and clinical care."
The decision of the committee was shared with the board of trustees, and there is no further board review required under the PIIAC procedures.
The release of this final report concludes the PIIAC cycle related to this proposal. Meeting minutes and the full report are available online at jhu.edu/piiac, along with links to the community briefings held outlining the PIIAC process and university endowments. Questions can be directed to piiac@jhu.edu.
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