University has no plans to divest from Sudan
Administration says it has no investments in Sudan, but has not considered formally divesting
Johns Hopkins has no plans to join the more than 50 universities that have formally divested from Sudan, despite a bloody ethnic conflict in that country's Darfur region that has killed at least a quarter of a million people.
As the international community increases its pressure on the Sudanese government to end what human rights groups and the United States government have called the "genocide" in Darfur, colleges and universities across the country have pulled their investments from companies that do business in Sudan.
Although Hopkins claims it has no investments in Sudan, it has not adopted a formal policy banning such investments on ethical grounds, nor has it made information regarding such investments public.
"The fact that we were not invested in those companies is not based on a decision-making process of the social responsibility of those investments," O'Shea said.
"The University's belief is that there is no financial incentive to invest in the companies doing business in Sudan. Given that fact, there is no need to even discuss the question of whether investments in those companies are a good or a bad idea for other reasons," he said.
When certain companies were first identified several years ago as doing business in the region, the University looked back to see if it had investments in any of those companies.
But at no point has Hopkins ever made it official University policy to ensure that its investments Â- through mutual funds or other means - do not go to companies that do business in Sudan based on social responsibility.
"We just haven't asked and answered that question," O'Shea said.
In the 1990s, the University did make it an official policy that none of its investments would go to tobacco companies, but it has made no such effort regarding Sudan.
"With a university of that size, there will be links to those investments [in Sudan]. There are probably no direct holdings, but there could be indirect ones through mutual funds," said Max Croes, advocacy associate with the Sudan Divestment Task Force (SDTF), a project of the Genocide Intervention Network.
As the international community increases its pressure on the Sudanese government to end what human rights groups and the United States government have called the "genocide" in Darfur, colleges and universities across the country have pulled their investments from companies that do business in Sudan.
Although Hopkins claims it has no investments in Sudan, it has not adopted a formal policy banning such investments on ethical grounds, nor has it made information regarding such investments public.
"The fact that we were not invested in those companies is not based on a decision-making process of the social responsibility of those investments," O'Shea said.
"The University's belief is that there is no financial incentive to invest in the companies doing business in Sudan. Given that fact, there is no need to even discuss the question of whether investments in those companies are a good or a bad idea for other reasons," he said.
When certain companies were first identified several years ago as doing business in the region, the University looked back to see if it had investments in any of those companies.
But at no point has Hopkins ever made it official University policy to ensure that its investments Â- through mutual funds or other means - do not go to companies that do business in Sudan based on social responsibility.
"We just haven't asked and answered that question," O'Shea said.
In the 1990s, the University did make it an official policy that none of its investments would go to tobacco companies, but it has made no such effort regarding Sudan.
"With a university of that size, there will be links to those investments [in Sudan]. There are probably no direct holdings, but there could be indirect ones through mutual funds," said Max Croes, advocacy associate with the Sudan Divestment Task Force (SDTF), a project of the Genocide Intervention Network.
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