Chancellor Phillip P. DiStefano
Dear Fossil Free CU,
I want to thank you for the peaceful and respectful way you have recently expressed your views on our campus, including your protest at my office at 914 Broadway. We share a common goal鈥攖hat of a healthy, sustainable planet. I applaud you for your passionate commitment to environmental justice and respect your vision of a fossil-free future.
The university values when students use nonviolent direct action to fight for our future, climate justice, divestment听and a safe and clean environment. I thank you for raising the issue of divestment of the University of Colorado's financial assets.
Some universities have divested from investments in companies as a way to raise the public's awareness of the risks of continued reliance on oil and gas. I encourage you to convey the support that you and other students have expressed for divestment to the Board of Regents, as this is not a decision the 麻豆影院 campus controls for the University of Colorado.
And I encourage you to continue a dialogue with the Board of Regents about how to best accomplish your goals. As an elected governing board, the Board of Regents values the input of students as it addresses its governance obligations.
On the 麻豆影院 campus, our goal is to be a global leader in sustainability, and that aspiration carries with it a great responsibility to advance on all fronts. Our new 听on the East Campus includes state-of-the-art facilities for student-faculty collaboration on climate change research.
Our new Chief Sustainability Officer听Heidi VanGenderen听will be tasked with creating a campus culture where students, faculty听and staff alike are always thinking about sustainability and how they can contribute to those efforts. As soon as Ms. VanGenderen starts in June, I will ask her听to reach out to the Fossil Free CU听student group听to listen to your ideas about how we can make this campus even more sustainable听and to provide us with guidance as we move forward.
Again, I thank you for your dedication, your passion听and your persistence. I pledge to work with you during the next school year to make CU 麻豆影院 the national model of excellence for a sustainable university.
Philip P.听 DiStefano,
Chancellor
