Climate Activists File Legal Complaint Against Princeton University

PRINCETON, NJ - Divest Princeton, a coalition of Princeton students, professors and alumni, has filed a legal complaint to NJ’s Attorney General against Princeton University.

The complaint, filed on Wednesday, comes on the same day, students from Yale, Stanford, MIT and Vanderbilt filed similar complaints in their states.

In their complaint, Divest Princeton alleges that the University’s Board of Trustees has “violated” New Jersey law by continuing to invest in fossil fuel companies.

The complaint claims that the trustees “failed to consider the charitable purposes of the institution and the purposes of the institutional fund” by financially supporting companies that contribute to climate change and widespread damage to ecological and human health.

Divest Princeton said the Trustees “violated their duty to act in good faith by refusing to abide by their previous commitments to socially responsible investing; by ignoring the warnings of students, faculty, alumni, and regulators that investments in fossil fuel companies are immoral, financially risky, and based on fraudulent information; and by spurning efforts by campus groups” to push the University’s investment toward sustainable approach.

Hannah Reynolds ’22, Divest Princeton co-coordinator, told Patch that the decision to file the complaint came after a decade of inaction from the University and after the group “exhausted” all other options.

“We’ve rallied and protested and written op-eds and held teach-ins and tried working with administrators, and even with more than 3,000 Princetonians in opposition to fossil fuel investments, the University has made no tangible movement toward divestment,” Reynolds said.

“We hope that this will cause the University to seriously consider the impacts of their investments on the Princeton community and the general public more broadly, and we hope to see clear timelines and transparency within the divestment process moving forward.”

The complaint also states that “continued investment in fossil fuels by the Trustees violates the fiduciary duties spelled out in the New Jersey Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (NJUPMIFA) and in New Jersey common law.”

The Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA) is a uniform state law across 49 states, that identifies various factors charities must consider before making management and investment decisions.

According to the UPMIFA requirement, those who manage a charity’s investments should do so with certain standards of care and loyalty. In their complaint, Divest Princeton alleges that the Trustees violated these duties.

“The Trustees have violated their duty of loyalty to the Princeton community by funding activity that directly imperils the lives and prospects of young people and that poses a physical threat to Princeton property, thus failing to act in the best interests of the institution,” the complaint states.

It also alleges that the Trustees have been “indulging conflicts of interest with the fossil fuel industry, maintaining personal, professional, and financial ties to oil, gas, and coal companies even as these companies harm Princeton.”

The complaint says that the state's Division of Consumer Affairs is responsible for ensuring that charitable assets are allocated appropriately and for investigating their violations of fiduciary duties.

“We ask that you investigate the violations described above and that you take action to ensure that the investment activity of the Board no longer harms the Princeton community, the State of New Jersey, or the public.”

Princeton University declined to comment on the matter.

Last year, the Board of Trustees announcedthe University will divest from "thermal coal and tar sands segments of the fossil fuel industry" as well as companies that "engaged in climate disinformation campaigns."

The University said it will set a target date by which to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across their endowment portfolio, which is around $26 billion.

Since then, Divest Princeton has continued its push for deadlines and asked that climate experts and members have a "seat at the table."

Thank you for reading. Have a correction or news tip? Email sarah.salvadore@patch.com

Get breaking news alerts on your phone with our app. Download here. Sign up to get Patch emails so you don't miss out on local and statewide news