Dear Â鶹´«Ã½ Community,
We write to follow up on our early October message acknowledging the concerns raised by some members of our community regarding the College’s investment policies. In that message, we invited input from the elected leadership of Pomona faculty, alumni, staff, and students to help guide the Board in developing a more effective process for engaging with the community on endowment-related matters.
The Board of Trustees met in Claremont on October 18 and 19. In addition to engaging with representatives from these leadership groups, the Board reviewed written submissions and engaged in rigorous discussions about our fiduciary responsibilities in relation to investment decisions.
We also debated the role of the College vis-a-vis geopolitical issues. Our educational mission requires us to help students analyze and understand the complex histories of countries and cultures around the world. It is not our role as an institution to take sides or intervene. As we have stated previously, we will not target specific countries with actions such as boycotts or divestment. The Board will not heed demands to divest from Israel or from companies doing business in or with Israel.
The Importance of Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s Endowment
The endowment is central to Pomona’s educational mission and its importance cannot be overstated. Investment returns provide nearly half of the College’s annual operating budget, funding everything from financial aid and salaries to research materials, student wages, and community engagement programs. Every Pomona student benefits from the endowment, as tuition and fees alone do not cover the full cost of a Pomona education.
The primary objective of the endowment is to generate returns—comprising income and capital appreciation—that ensure a predictable, stable, and consistent stream of financial support for the College’s operating budget, benefiting both current and future students. Achieving this goal annually is a significant challenge, but Pomona is fortunate to have the resources and expertise to meet it consistently. Given the powerful effect of compound growth, even small fluctuations in annual investment returns can have a substantial impact on the College’s ability to achieve its strategic goals. Additional details about this analysis will be made available on the College’s Endowment website.
The Responsibility of the Board of Trustees
As mandated by state and federal law, it is the fiduciary duty of the College’s Board of Trustees to steward the endowment responsibly. The Board delegates oversight of the endowment's financial assets to the Investments Committee, which is comprised of 10 Trustees. The Investments Committee works closely with the Investment Office to manage the College’s endowment. Importantly, the Committee and Investment Office do not select any individual securities. Rather, we work with nearly 60 external investment managers. These managers are continually evaluated through a holistic process that not only assesses investment returns but also considers factors such as organizational values, a commitment to operating with the highest integrity, and the demonstration of ethical behavior. Together, our managers seek out investment opportunities worldwide to generate financial returns that benefit the entire Pomona community now and in the future.
With increased interest from the Pomona community regarding the college’s investment practices, the Board will work with our Investment Office to enhance process visibility. This will include publishing an annual investment report providing insights into our manager due diligence and monitoring practices and hosting periodic informational forums with the Chief Investment Officer and Investments Committee leadership.
The Endowment is not an Instrument for Political or Social Advocacy
The Board strongly believes that using investment decisions as tools for political or social advocacy is both inappropriate and ineffective. Investment actions should not be used to endorse or oppose specific political viewpoints. In today’s complex world, focusing on one issue often diminishes others. Taking a position on a particular geopolitical conflict or social issue through investments can fragment our community, which is home to diverse perspectives and constituencies.
Furthermore, given the size and scope of Pomona’s endowment, any individual investment decision is unlikely to have a significant impact on the broader marketplace or to further any particular political or social cause. The Board believes the primary purpose of the endowment must remain focused on supporting Pomona’s educational mission, ensuring the long-term financial health of the College, and safeguarding funding for financial aid, faculty and staff positions, and academic programs.
However, it is not inconceivable that there could be some exceptional world event which would prompt a reassessment of investment or divestment decisions. The College should have an established process by which such proposals could be heard and acted upon.
What Productive Community Engagement Could Look Like
At Pomona, we value thoughtful and deliberative engagement, but the recent campus conversations about investments have not consistently lived up to this standard. The Board does not respond to demands; we are committed to addressing concerns in a manner that is reasoned and respectful. We strongly reject any behavior that undermines our community, including the personal attacks and harassment of trustees in the name of divestment.
We will pursue creating a constructive process where campus concerns about investments and social responsibility can be heard and thoughtfully considered. We are grateful to the Faculty Executive Committee, the Alumni Association Board, the Staff Council, and ASPC leadership for their thoughtful responses to our inquiry in October. A common theme in these responses was the idea of establishing a stakeholder committee to review and discuss proposals. The Faculty Executive Committee noted that such a committee existed between 1986 and 2018, originally formed in response to concerns about investments in apartheid South Africa. While the committee was eventually dissolved due to the limited scope of Pomona’s direct investments, the need for a process to address proposals remains.
The Board will work with the President’s Office to reestablish a Committee on Social Responsibility (CSR), which would function to review investment issues as well as other campus concerns brought to its attention in proposal form. After appropriate investigation and consideration, the CSR shall advise the President on the concerns brought forward. Work to further define and constitute this CSR will begin next semester.
Moving Forward
While some may disagree with our position, and others may be satisfied, the Board is hopeful that we can engage in meaningful dialogue moving forward. Â鶹´«Ã½ is a special place, and it is through working together—across differences—that we ensure it remains so.
Thank you for your continued dedication to our community.
Respectfully,
Janet Inskeep Benton ’79
Chair, Board of Trustees
Peter G. Sasaki ’91
Chair, Investments Committee
Jeffrey T. Parks ’02
Vice Chair, Investments Committee