ASWU senate votes unanimously to divest endowment from university
- Amelia Hare, Staff Writer
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
The Associated Students of Willamette University (ASWU) senate voted unanimously on Thursday, April 10 to divest the ASWU endowment from the larger university endowment, taking the first steps towards independent endowment management. Past protests from students have called for Willamette to divest, leading ASWU to begin the difficult task. The current Treasurer and President-Elect Stevie Bergstrom (’26) emphasized the long process ahead.
The vote means that the ASWU endowment will be considered fully independent from the university endowment. Thus, senators and executive members will have the opportunity to decide where money should be allocated, both for students and for investments. With that freedom also comes the challenge of obtaining a new endowment manager to oversee the future investments. Currently, the ASWU endowment is approximately $394,452. Around 2.5% of the endowment is invested.
The initial creation of the Task Force intended to analyze if funds were being used properly to support students. Then, it became a potential gateway for student divestment. During their last Task Force meeting on April 4, members voted on two options: continue to invest or divest from the university. Out of six members, the Task Force voted four for divestment and two for sticking with the current investment. This was after a “town hall” panel event on March 13, where students asked questions to task force members. Information from the town hall and the recommendation by the Task Force was presented to the senate for the April 10 vote.
When the ASWU senate voted to divest, Bergstrom explained the relief she felt after working diligently to make this a reality. “It was the first time I’ve taken a deep breath in months.”
The company both ASWU and the university presently use is called Global Endowment Management (GEM). In the future, it will be the job of both the treasurer and the president to work with a new, separate financial advisor to manage the endowment. This shared responsibility is in hopes to not add too much work to the treasurer’s already difficult job of managing over 90 clubs and organizations on campus.
Currently, the main concern for both Bergstrom and ASWU is simply removing the money from the university’s care. From there, Bergstrom laid out the process of creating a policy statement and amending ASWU constitutional bylaws, along with looking into advisors and the potential creation of a full-time committee. Most of this work will likely be done over the summer and into the early fall semester. Throughout these steps, Bergstrom emphasized that “all of that [process] will be communicated to students.”
While Bergstrom and President Anastasiia Lemesh (’26) will be spearheading this divestment, Bergstrom also credited work to the Task Force and ASWU senators. Along with that, she hopes that students understand the vote was done out of appreciation for the student body. “I hope that students see that we heard you, and we are here to listen to you,” she said.
Willamette students have a long history of calling for the university to divest, from protests in the 1980s to divest from the South African Apartheid to an occupation of university buildings last spring calling for Willamette to divest from companies in the defense industry associated with the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. This ASWU divestment, while only one piece of the puzzle, is “a really important step in the right direction,” according to Ernest Jones (’28), an ASWU senator and Task Force member.
Bergstrom also hopes in the future to continue these information sessions about the endowment for students. “I think this has started a wave of transparency,” she said. She hopes to further bridge the gap between the work ASWU is doing and the encouragement of student voices. The town hall event on March 13 was a step in that direction, where student comments and questions were sought out.
The process of divestment will hopefully reflect the desires of students, and Bergstrom hopes that students will be understanding through this journey. “It’s going to take a while to see the full ideal plan layout, so just be patient,” Bergstrom said.