Decarbonizing Villanova: A Town Hall On Fossil Fuel Divestment

Emily Attisano Staff Writer

On January 25th, the Student Government Association passed a resolution calling on Villanova University to divest their endowments from fossil fuel companies. This resolution echoed the student body’s demand for a shift towards sustainability. With the increasing severity of climate change, students are urging Villanova to do its part to mitigate environmental degradation and environmental injustices. Global communities and ecosystems suffer the price of Villanova’s investments in the fossil fuel industry. The resolution calls for the University to divest the 4% of its $1.2 billion endowment from fossil fuel companies and to make strides towards renewable energy.

In a response to these sustainability demands, Villanova faculty and students organized a campus-wide town hall meeting on decarbonizing Villanova’s campus. The town hall, held in Connelly Cinema on January 27th, served as a public discussion on Villanova’s lack of sustainability, raising visibility and making a statement to the university. With a tremendous group of students, faculty and alumni in attendance, the town-hall made Villanova’s divestment from fossil fuels a priority.

During the town hall meeting, eight diverse speakers expressed their thoughts on sustainability, divestment and climate change. The list included Professor Jean Lutes, Sharielle Rodriguez, Jessica Mengistab, Professor Pali Singh, Professor Jonathan Doh, John Chaimanis and Joseph Miscimarra.

Lutes began the town-hall by framing Villanova’s history in fossil fuel investments. She illuminated the global implications of such contributions–the dangers that disproportionately affect marginalized regions. The question of how Villanova perpetuates these injustices lingered throughout the rest of the meeting.

Each speaker that followed conveyed an argument for divesting from fossil fuel companies.

Rodriguez, a pre-law student, explained how investment in fossil fuels unfairly exposes vulnerable populations to harm. She argued that Villanova’s role in this environmental injustice contradicts its community mission. Therefore, the university has an obligation to divest from fossil fuels. Rodriguez then urged Villanova to make information on their endowment funds and investments more visible and transparent. A component of environmental equality is information accessibility.

Mengistab highlighted the intersection of human health and the environment. As a registered nurse, she conveyed the dangers of climate change on communities that experience the greatest effects of polluting industries. She explained how “fossil fuel generated air pollution and climate change linked to $280 billion in healthcare costs.”

Food insecurity, severe weather and air pollution are just some of the consequences of fossil fuels that cause these health risks. Divesting endowment from fossil fuel industries is necessary to mitigate the health concerns disproportionately impacting frontline communities.

The meeting then transitioned to models of renewable energy, with Singh providing statistics on the cost and effectiveness of renewable energy sources. He argued that wind power and solar energy are being deployed globally and may be a more affordable energy source.

Involvement Fair Preview

Hannah Sweeney Co-News Editor

As the Spring semester begins and classes start picking up, it is more important than ever that students fi nd time for the activities they enjoy in the midst of all the stress.

In attempts to get students involved and to help them feel more comfortable during the transition back from break, the Offi ce of Student Involvement will be hosting the 2023 Spring Student Involvement Fair.

The Involvement Fair is held at the beginning of every semester and features stands and booths from almost every organization on campus. Currently, Villanova has more than 200 student run clubs and organizations, giving students looking to get involved a wide variety of opportunities to fi nd something that interests them.

This could include clubs focused on sports, volunteering, music, art, theater, social justice, politics, movies and much more.

“When I went to the involvement fair last semester I met some girls on the club basketball team who convinced me to try out. Now it’s one of my favorite things I do on campus,” Isabelle Jacowleff said. “I like being part of a team because it makes the big school feel a little smaller.”

“Some of my best friends are the people I met through joining Formula,” Villanova junior and driver controls lead for the Villanova Formula team, Sola Dugbo, said.

“I didn’t really know what I wanted to be involved in coming into Villanova. I went to the involvement fair and signed up for a bunch of diff erent clubs and ended up fi nding something I really enjoy.”

This semester’s Involvement Fair will take place on Tuesday, February 7th, from 5-8 pm in the Villanova Room located in the Connelly Center. Whether students are looking for new extracurriculars to fi ll their time or trying to get more involved in something they are passionate about, stop by and

He suggested that Villanova has the money to invest in these renewable energy sources. Since the issue of divestment raises financial concerns, professors in the Villanova School of Business shared their perspectives on fossil fuel investment. Doh stressed the importance of socially responsible investing. He expressed the necessity of not only considering financial return, but also the social and environmental implications of investments. In this vein, Chaimanis explained how investment in fossil fuel is risky with stranded assets, government regulations and the legal consequences of high emitters. He argued that “renewable energy investments already are a massive and growing place to invest energy.” As such, divestment may be in the financial interest of Villanova.

Miscimarra, the student who organized Marquette University’s divestment campaign, shared his experience with leading a successful movement. He urged the Villanova community to not accept the “people are not ready” excuse, but rather continue with social media campaigns, educational initiatives and activism. He explained that with Villanova and Marquette’s similarities, divestment is just as possible at Villanova as it was at Marquette.

Like most college campuses, Villanova has a legacy of fossil fuel investment and carbon emissions. In a small move towards sustainability, Villanova pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. It was the general consensus of the town-hall speakers, however, that this plan is not efficient or quick enough to combat climate change. Instead, they agreed that divesting Villanova’s endowment fund from fossil fuels is the most valuable course of action. Ultimately, the presence of students, faculty and alumni in tandem with such effective arguments made the town hall meeting a tremendous step towards divestment.