WWU Students for Renewable Energy
Faculty and Staff Divestment Sign-On Letter
Dear Faculty and Staff,
If you would like add your name to the faculty and staff sign-on letter below, please email westernfacultystaffdivest@gmail.com and put ADD MY NAME in the subject line and your full name, title, and department in the body of the email.
Thank you for your support!
Students for Renewable Energy (SRE)
_____
May 28, 2014
An open letter from Faculty and Staff of Western Washington University,
To: President Bruce Shepard
The Board of Directors, The Western Foundation
When it adopted a Climate Action Plan in 2010, Western Washington University recognized the severity of climate change, as evident in the opening statement: “Anthropogenic climate change is the most significant problem of our time.” Western students have recognized that the urgency of climate disruption compels direct action, particularly a change in the university’s investment policy. In a spring 2013 AS vote, students showed their support by an 86% vote in favor of a initiative calling on the University to divest, as soon as possible, its holdings in fossil fuel corporations. This was followed by a unanimous vote for divestment by the AS Board in March 2014.
As members of the faculty and staff of Western Washington University, we understand that divestment will send a strong message that WWU is fully committed to its mission, vision and the strategic goal to “serve as a model for institutional effectiveness, innovation, diversity, and sustainability.” It will also end Western's complicity in the fossil fuel industry's disinformation campaign by pulling out of investments in companies that exacerbate climate change. In the face of overwhelming scientific consensus about the anthropogenic origin and severity of climate change, and with the knowledge that investment decisions implicate our University in the principles and practices of the enterprises in which we invest, we see our responsibility as being both scientific and moral. We know that expanding use of fossil fuels accelerates climate change at an unprecedented rate and with intolerable destructive capacity. We also recognize that considerable resources are being expended to promote continuing use of fossil fuels, resources that could instead be directed to development of alternative energy sources.
Divestment is a significant step toward putting a healthy earth as a top priority of a university founded on the mutual strengths of the natural and social sciences, humanities, arts and direct engagement. It is both a tangible and a symbolic affirmation of the seriousness of climate change and our ethical responsibility. It is also part of a shared and continuing education that is essential for responding as effectively, collectively, and humanely as possible to the world that is emerging.
We therefore urge the University to align its financial investments with its intellectual investments and moral principles. In full commitment to our university’s affirmation of “Active minds, changing lives,” we the undersigned faculty and staff of WWU call on the Western Foundation Board to divest, as soon as possible, its holdings in fossil fuel corporations.
Additional Statements in Support of Divestment
Respectfully,
John McLaughlin
Associate Professor
Environmental Sciences Department
_____
James Loucky
Professor
Anthropology Department
_____
Jill MacIntyre Witt
Instructor
PEHR Department
_____
Nicole Brown
Associate Professor
English Department
_____
Shirley Osterhaus
Senior Instructor
Fairhaven College
_____
Grace Wang
Associate Professor
Environmental Studies Department
_____
Ron Helms
Professor
Sociology Department
_____
Steve Hollenhorst
Dean
Huxley College of the Environment
_____
Julie Smith
Secretary Senior
Financial Aid Department
_____
Susan Anderson
Career Counselor
Career Services Center
_____
Georgianne Connell
Senior Instructor
Biology Department
_____
Kathryn Patrick
Program Coordinator
Huxley College
_____
Brooke Love
Assistant Professor
Environmental Sciences Department
_____
Marli Williams
Academic Support Coordinator
Student Outreach Services
_____
Suzann Finch
Program Coordinator
Financial Aid Department
_____
Molly Paterson
Financial Aid Counselor
Financial Aid Department
_____
Jessie Payne
Program Coordinator
Financial Aid Department
_____
Nicholas Zaferatos
Associate Professor
Environmental Studies Department
_____
Rose Kawczynski
Admin Services Manager
Environmental Sciences Department
_____
John Feodorov
Associate Professor
Fairhaven College
_____
Leslie Conton
Professor
Fairhaven College
_____
Daniel Larner
Professor
Fairhaven College
_____
Jennifer Hahn
Adjunct Professor
Fairhaven College
_____
John Tuxill
Associate Professor
Fairhaven College
_____
Stefan Freelan
GIS Specialist and Instructor
Huxley College of the Environment
_____
David Rossiter
Associate Professor
Environmental Studies
_____
Peter Trenham
Instructor
Biology Department
_____
Gigi Berardi
Professor
Environmental Studies Department
_____
Elizabeth Hartsoch
Research Analyst
Office of Survey Research
_____
Dan First Scout Rowe
Senior Instructor
Fairhaven College
_____
Paul Piper
Special Collections Librarian
Western Libraries
_____
Diane Knutson
Department Manager
Environmental Studies Department
_____
Leo Bodensteiner
Professor
Environmental Sciences Department
_____
Elizabeth Binney
Instructor
Biology Department/Environmental Sciences Department
_____
Pete Stelling
Assistant Professor
Geology Department
_____
David Wallin
Professor
Environmental Sciences Department
_____
Jeff Bates
Program Support Supervisor
Student Activities Department
_____
Dale L. Dinnel
Professor
Psychology Department
_____
Ruth Sofield
Associate Professor
Environmental Sciences Department
_____
David Hooper
Professor
Biology Department
_____
James M. Helfield
Associate Professor
Environmental Sciences
_____
Dietmar Schwarz
Assistant Professor
Biology Department
_____
Carol Berry
Campus Conservation & Sustainable Transportation
Program Manager
Office of Sustainability
_____
Kathryn R. Wayne
Associate Professor
Elementary Education Department
_____
Rebekah Green
Assistant Professor
Environmental Studies Department
_____
Steven Woods
Professor
Communication Studies Department
_____
Barbara Rofkar
Instructor
Center for International Studies
_____
Andy Bunn
Associate Professor
Environmental Studies Department
Director, Institute for Energy Studies
_____
Julie Dugger
Senior Instructor
English Department
_____
Paul Brower
Preservation and Museum Specialist
Western Gallery
_____
Victor Nolet
Professor
Secondary Education Department
_____
Marion Brodhagen
Associate Professor
Biology Department
_____
Eric DeChaine
Associate Professor
Biology Department
_____
Dominique Coulet du Gard
Instructor
Anthropology Department
Fairhaven College
_____
Janice Lapsansky
Senior Instructor
Biology Department
_____
Paul S. Amieux
Instructor
Biology Department
_____
Julia Sapin
Associate Professor
Art Department
_____
Kate Yamamoto
Instructor
Biology Department
_____
Dawn Dietrich
Associate Professor
English Department
Director, Western Reads
_____
Teresa Bodensteiner
Registered Nurse
English Department
Student Health Center
_____
Barbara L. Miller
Professor
Art Department
_____
Cynthia Camlin
Associate Professor
Art Department
_____
Maria Timmons Flores
Associate Professor
Director of Pathways to Teaching
Woodring College of Education
_____
Mart Stewart
Professor
History Department
_____
Kathleen Heft Nolan
Financial Aid Counselor
Financial Aid Department
_____
Carol Janson
Professor
Art Department
_____
Pamela Large
Office Assistant
Art Department
_____
Cara Jaye
Professor
Art Department
_____
Mark Price
Lab Technician
Biology Department
_____
Amelia Cave
Health Promotion and Communications Specialist
Prevention and Wellness Services
_____
Scott Martinez
Risk Reduction Specialist
Prevent and Wellness Services
_____
Katie Plewa
Licensed Psychologist, Violence Prevention Specialist
Prevention and Wellness Services
_____
Seiko A. Purdue
Associate Professor
Art Department
_____
Benjamin Miner
Associate Professor
Biology Department
_____
Deborah Donovan
Professor
Biology Department
_____
Laurie Nesheim
Administrative Assistant
Center for International Studies
_____
Thomas Unfried
Instructor
Biology Department
_____
Heather Burton
Program Assistant
Financial Aid Department
_____
Julie Helling
Associate Professor
Fairhaven College
_____
Jeff Purdue
Associate Professor
Western Libraries
_____
Joann J. Otto
Professor and Chair
Biology Department
_____
Jeanne Freeman
Associate Professor
PEHR – Physical Education, Health and Recreation Department
_____
Keith Russell
Professor
PEHR – Physical Education, Health and Recreation Department
_____
Diana Gruman
Associate Professor
Director, School Counseling Program
Psychology Department
_____
Molly Ware
Assistant Professor
Secondary Education Department
_____
Joyce Hammond
Professor
Anthropology Department
_____
Todd Donovan
Professor
Political Science Department
_____
Verónica N. Velez
Assistant Professor
Director, Education and Social Justice Minor
Woodring and Fairhaven Colleges
_____
Alisyn Maggiora
Program Manager
Extended Education Department
_____
Stacy Halbakken
Program Support Supervisor
PEHR – Physical Education, Health and Recreation Department
_____
Milica Jelaca Jovanovic
Associate Professor
Music Department
_____
Sara Weir
Associate Professor
Political Science Department
_____
John Bower
Professor
Fairhaven College
_____
Mary Metzger
Professor
English Department
_____
Matthew Holtmeier
Visiting Assistant Professor
English Department
_____
Abigail Borchert
International Student Advisor
International Student and Scholar Services
_____
Kathryn Trueblood
Associate Professor
English Department
_____
F. Scott Wilkinson
Instructional/Classroom Support Technician
Huxley College of the Environment
_____
Jude Apple
Marine Scientist
Shannon Point Marine Center
_____
Douglas H. Clark
Associate Professor
Geology Department
_____
Judith M.S. Pine
Assistant Professor
Anthropology Department
_____
Anne Lobeck
Professor
English Department
_____
Liz Mogford
Associate Professor
Sociology Department
_____
Olin E. (Gene) Myers Jr.
Professor
Environmental Studies Department
_____
Scott Linneman
Professor
Geology Department
_____
Helen Morgan Parmett
Assistant Professor
Communication Department
_____
Laura Laffrado
Professor
English Department
_____
Debra Salazar
Professor
Political Science Department
_____
Mary Moores
Program Support Supervisor
Huxley College of the Environment
_____
Ed Geary
Professor
Geology Department
_____
Linda Flanagan
Program Coordinator
English Department
_____
Bruce Goebel
Professor and Chair
English Department
_____
Karen J. Hoelscher
Professor
Elementary Education Department
_____
Millie Johnson
Associate Professor
Mathematics Department
_____
Theresa Tripp
Program Coordinator
Geology Department
_____
Fred Tabor
Instructor
Huxley College of the Environment
