Interdisciplinary panel to examine universities and responsible investment

The University Colloquium on the Global South will host a panel presentation, titled "Universities and Responsible Investments". This presentation will take place Wednesday, Sept. 26, from 2:30 to 4:30pm, in 305 York Lanes.

The panel will address how multinational and transnational corporations are acting in the Global South and what role universities can play in fostering change. Currently there is a growing movement within Canadian universities to adopt responsible investment policies and practices. This panel will bring together various experts on the topic of responsible investment to discuss the legal, policy and moral obligations of university pension and endowment funds to engage in responsible investment. Despite the focus on York University, there will be discussion of the progress being achieved by other Canadian universities in adopting responsible investment policies.

This panel discussion has been organized by the York Coalition for Responsible Investment. It will be chaired by Simon Granovsky-Larsen, a PhD candidate in political science at York University. Granovsky-Larsen has worked with human rights and campesino organizations in Guatemala since 2003.

Participating in the panel are Wesley Cragg, professor emeritus and director of the Business Ethics Program at York’s Schulich School of Business; Benjamin Richardson, York’s co-director of Aboriginal programs at Osgoode Hall Law School; and Walter Whiteley, professor in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics in York’s Faculty of Science & Engineering.

The University Colloquium on the Global South is an open space for debate and critical inquiry for students, faculty members, NGOs, social activists and policy makers. Colloquia are free and do not require pre-registration.

For information or to register for updates, visit the University Consortium on the Global South Web site or contact Joelle Reid at joelle@yorku.ca.