Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 58.23
Liaison Sarah Williams
Submission Date July 24, 2023

STARS v2.2

Whitman College
PA-10: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.86 / 4.00 Sarah Williams
Sustainability Manager
Office of Sustainability, Facilities Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Positive sustainability investment

Total value of the investment pool:
683,569,141 US/Canadian $

Value of holdings in each of the following categories:
Value of holdings
Sustainable industries (e.g., renewable energy or sustainable forestry) 0 US/Canadian $
Businesses selected for exemplary sustainability performance (e.g., using criteria specified in a sustainable investment policy) 0 US/Canadian $
Sustainability investment funds (e.g., a renewable energy or impact investment fund) 20,000,000 US/Canadian $
Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) or the equivalent 0 US/Canadian $
Socially responsible mutual funds with positive screens (or the equivalent) 0 US/Canadian $
Green revolving funds funded from the endowment 0 US/Canadian $

If any of the above is greater than zero, provide:

A brief description of the companies, funds, and/or institutions referenced above:
The $20M exposure to a dedicated sustainability investment fund that incorporates sustainability in all of its investments and wants to ensure sustainable investing drives change for ESG factors. We have numerous other investments that incorporate ESG factors when making investments, but they are not dedicated sustainability funds.

Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
2.93

Part 2. Investor engagement

Sustainable investment policy 

Does the institution have a publicly available sustainable investment policy?:
No

None
A copy of the sustainable investment policy:
---

None
The sustainable investment policy:
---

None
Does the institution use its sustainable investment policy to select and guide investment managers?:
No

A brief description of how the sustainable investment policy is applied:
---

Proxy voting 

Has the institution engaged in proxy voting, either by its CIR or other committee or through the use of guidelines, to promote sustainability during the previous three years?:
No

None
A copy of the proxy voting guidelines or proxy record:
---

None
A brief description of how managers are adhering to proxy voting guidelines:
---

Shareholder resolutions 

Has the institution filed or co-filed one or more shareholder resolutions that address sustainability or submitted one or more letters about social or environmental responsibility to a company in which it holds investments during the previous three years?:
Yes

Examples of how the institution has engaged with corporations in its portfolio about sustainability issues during the previous three years:
The College when it originally voted to divest from the Carbon Underground 200 sent letters to its investment managers stating the new policy

Divestment efforts and negative screens

Does the institution participate in a public divestment effort and/or have a publicly available investment policy with negative screens?:
Yes

A brief description of the divestment effort or negative screens and how they have been implemented:
The portfolio has a negative screen on investments in the Carbon Underground 200. The endowment has been gradually drawing down its exposure to these companies and it now has a less than 0.4% exposure to these companies in the portfolio.

Approximate percentage of endowment that the divestment effort and/or negative screens apply to:
100

Investor networks 

Does the institution engage in policy advocacy by participating in investor networks and/or engage in inter-organizational collaborations to share best practices?:
No

None
A brief description of the investor networks and/or collaborations:
---

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainable investment efforts is available:
https://www.whitman.edu/chief-financial-officer/endowment-divestment-policy

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The committee finalized DEIA/ESG policy language to be approved in its Investment Policy in May 2023. The language states that information regarding ESG/DEIA factors will be included in all investment manager decisions. However, the BOT vote on this language has been pushed to October due to our new VP of Finance and Administration joining the College this summer.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.