The Rice Thresher, Vol. 97, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, February 19, 2010 Page: 5 of 32
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Friday, February 19,2010
the Rice Thresher
NEWS
O INVEST
FROM PAGE 1
public. This is done to keep a com-
petitive edge over other private col-
lege endowments, Treadwell said.
Elizabeth Long, the club's faculty
sponsor, pointed Treadwell to the Re-
sponsible Endowment Coalition, a
group that promotes responsible in-
vesting in the colleges, Treadwell said.
Through this committee, Treadwell
and his team learned that 14 of the
top 20 schools have a committee that
focuses on the social implications of
its investments.
Harvard University has had such a
committee since the 1970s, Treadwell
said. Another notable example is
Swarthmore College.
"Lockheed Martin wasn't respecting
the rights of its gay and lesbian employ-
ees," Treadwell said. "The committee
at Swarthmore took it upon themselves
to do something about it and they filed
a shareholder resolution and then sud-
denly Lockheed Martin just magically
put a clause in its charter protecting its
gay and lesbian employees."
Treadwell and Williams, along
with other Rice for Peace and Justice
Members, made their case through
a series of meetings with the admin-
istration where they made their pro-
posals and presented a viable plan.
"We expected a lot of resistance
from the administration," Treadwell
said. "We essentially asked the in-
vestment office for a meeting. We
were prepared to talk to the Thresher
and the Houston Chronicle. We had
our bases covered when we walked
in the door."
Leebron officially approved the Com-
mittee on Investor Responsibility Jan.
29, with agreement from both the Rice
Board of Trustees and the Rice Manage-
ment Company. The Rice Management
Company is a third-party organization
that manages Rice's investments.
Vice President for Investments
and Treasurer Scott Wise said he
thought the committee could play an
educational and informational role.
"What i would expect is that the ad-
vice and recommendations that come
from the committee will be part of the
information-gathering process for the
Rice Management Company that we use
to make informed decisions," he said.
Currently, the only power the
Committee on Investor Responsibility
Policy holds is to make recommenda-
tions on the proxy votes, Treadwell
said. These recommendations do not
have any contractual obligations but
will be taken on in good faith.
ii
We're looking for
people that are aware
of the evils that corpo-
rations are engaging
in, that have an incli-
nation to social justice
and that feel they can
do something about it.
Richard Treadwell
Baker '10
99
"The proxy votes were our foot in the
investor responsibility door," Treadwell
said. "This year, the committee will fo-
cus exclusively on proxy votes."
While those on the committee
will have knowledge of Rice invest-
ments, they will not be able to share
this information with the general
Rice community.
"That's why it's very important
that we have people in there that
are very passionate about social jus-
tice," Treadwell said. "They will not
have the community to keep them
accountable, so they will have to
keep themselves accountable."
For the most part, the commit-
tee will be self-managed, Treadwell
said. The committee plans to meet
every week during the proxy-voting
season in spring. During the fall se-
mester, the committee will meet bi-
weekly or once a month.
The recommendation made by
the committee will comprise a short
statement on the issue and voting
preference.
"We're looking for people that
are aware of the evils that corpora-
tions are engaging in, that have an
inclination to social justice and that
feel they can do something about
it," Treadwell said. "They have to be
aware of the tension between eco-
nomic and social goals but in the
end the social inclination should be
more prevalent."
Treadwell said he has been
working with SA President Patrick
McAnaney to get students to apply.
McAnaney described his role in
the process as that of a facilitator,
and the SA's role in the affair to be
minimal. McAnaney helped set up
meetings for dialogue to take place
during the formation of the Commit-
tee on Investor Responsibility Policy.
He described the SA's job as submit-
ting a list of four to six students out of
the pool of applicants whose names
were forwarded to Leebron.
"I think this is a really incredible
opportunity," McAnaney said. "I'm re-
ally happy that the university has cho-
sen to adopt this policy. I feel it's really
important for us as an institution and
as a community to know the impact of
our endowment and how we can be a
force in this world through our finan-
cial influence."
Such a goal is what Treadwell
and his team have been aiming for
all along.
"Universities across the country
have a collective $400 billion in en-
dowments." Treadwell said. "That's
a substantial portion of the economy,
so this is really about getting that in-
vestment capital under another bot-
tom line: the social bottom line."
.3E
I ;
The Campanile office (2nd floor, Student
Center) is open Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
— and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., ——
so come by and get your book!
Years Available: 1933-1936, 1938-1941, 1946, 1955-1962,
1966-1968, 1980-1981, 1988-1997, 2000-2009
NEWS IN BRIEF
Rice musicians to
set sail with song
Next year, a trio of Shepherd
School faculty members will be
hitting the high C's in more ways
than one. Professor of Orchestral
Conducting Larry Rachleff, Lectur-
er of Voice and soprano vocalist
Susan Lorette Dunn and Professor
of Violin Cho-Liang Lin will per-
form classical music on board the
Celebrity Mercury, a luxury Carib-
bean cruise from Celebrity Cruise
Lines, next January.
The group will be featured as
guest artists on the inaugural
debut of the Symphonic Voyag-
es, a Caribbean cruise designed
with fans of classical music in
mind. Rachleff will conduct the
60-piece Symphonic Voyages
orchestra, whose members are
professional musicians from the
East Coast. Symphonic Voyages,
which invited Lin, Rachleff and
his wife Lorette Dunn to perform,
will hold auditions to determine
the members of the orchestra.
Lin and Lorette Dunn will per-
form with the orchestra as well as
in separate solo recitals.
According to Rachleff, the or-
chestra will play pieces by Mo-
zart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn,
Brahms and a repertoire of
other composers for their four
concerts. The 12-night cruise,
which starts at $1,800 per guest,
will depart from Baltimore Jan.
3 and make five stops in the
Eastern Caribbean Sea, includ-
ing the islands of Antigua and
St. Thomas, before returning
Jan. 11. The cruise will accom-
modate up to 900 guests. Aside
from performances, rehearsals
and question-and-answer ses-
sions, some of the musicians will
also dine with the cruise guests
and participate in recreational
activities on board.
Rachleff said this opportunity
was a combination of vacation and
work in an entirely new venue.
"It sounded crazy enough
that it just might work," Rachl-
eff said. "I've never been on a
boat before."
Visit www.symphonicvoyages.
com for cruise information and to
listen to clips of the guest artists.
— Cindy Dinh
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Now seeking applications for the:
ROTARY COMMU NITY
SERVICE SCHOLARSHIP
To promote and recognize community service, the
Rotary Club of West University Place is offering a
$3,000 scholarship to a continuing undergraduate
student at Rice University. If you have a record of
community service outside of the Rice campus that
embodies the Rotary motto of "Service above Self",
you may be eligible.
for more 1nformation about the rotary
scholarship and to a thy, visit the
Community involvement Center's website
(HTTP://.CIC.RICE.EDU)
Application Deadline:
5:00PM FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010
PISCOVIK VOLUNULR. HAD
Th! CiNifK I'OrCivic im.ac.imini
^RICE
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Michel, Casey. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 97, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, February 19, 2010, newspaper, February 19, 2010; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443140/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.