The push to divest from Sudan reached a new level Thursday when
the board of one of California’s largest pension funds
overwhelmingly approved the development of a plan to divest funds
from companies associated with the government of Sudan.
In a motion proposed by Treasurer Phil Angelides, the California
State Teachers’ Retirement System voted 9-0, with one
abstention, to divest after a rally in Sacramento where students,
politicians and religious leaders came together to show their
support for CalSTRS’ divestment from Sudan.
CalSTRS’ decision to divest comes three weeks after the UC
Board of Regents unanimously voted to divest from nine companies
with holdings with the Sudanese government, which has been accused
by the United States of conducting genocide in a conflict that has
caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and many more displacements
in the Darfur region of the country.
About 40 students from ten campuses across California ““
including 25 from UCLA ““ traveled to Sacramento Thursday to
meet with politicians and participate in what Angelides called in a
press release “the most significant divestment action to
date.”
Student leaders said they hope pulling CalSTRS’s funds out
of Sudan will put economic pressure on the government and help stop
the killings. They also said they believe CalSTRS’s decision
will have a substantial impact on the nationwide divestment
movement, as it is the second-largest pension fund in the
country.
“This decision will put the situation in Darfur in the
spotlight and help further other states’ and
universities’ divestments as well,” said Karina Garcia,
legislative director of the UC Sudan Divestment Task Force, which
recently headed the UC divestment campaign.
Adam Sterling, co-chair of the taskforce and a UCLA student,
said he was surprised a decision was reached Thursday, as the
students were expecting only a rally and kickoff .
“We thought we would just be making some noise and
launching our new campaign … then we came back with a substantial
victory,” he said.
Jason Miller, co-chair of the taskforce, said he expected
Thursday to be a start of the next step in their goal of national
divestment.
CalSTRS intends to create a divestment plan based on the
UC’s divestment proposal, so long as it proves to be
financially prudent for the firm.
Since CalSTRS’ plan is based on the UC’s plan,
Sterling said he believes the divestment proposal will be approved
when the CalSTRS board meets again in June to vote on the
issue.
Sterling said the taskforce has received considerable support
from Angelides, as well as other politicians such as Assemblyman
Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, and Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los
Angeles, since their initial UC divestment campaign. He said both
the UC campaign and the CalSTRS campaign have collaborated efforts
on the part of students and state politicians, which was apparent
at Thursday’s rally and the outcome of the vote.
“We decided to join forces, feeling that our voices would
be louder together,” Sterling said. “With all the
students there, we made a really strong impression … nobody (on
the CalSTRS board) voted against it.”
Garcia said following the rally and CalSTRS meeting, taskforce
members met with politicians to discuss divestment and
indemnification legislation they hope to see passed soon.