By Meredith Lobel

It’s not only Coke that we need to fear.

Josh Dankoff’s Wespeak, "On the Corporate Ownership of Wesleyan" (10/8/98) raises an excellent question regarding the relationship between corporations and universities. He cites the recent Coca-Cola sponsorship of the new soccer scoreboard as indicative of a growing trend of the corporate presence on our campus-Pantene shampoo ads in Summerfields and Pantene displays in WEShop, AT&T phone service, sweatshop-made Champion athletic apparel, etc. At least we have successfully switched coffee distribution from Starbucks to Green Mountain Coffee, which appears to practice more labor- and environmentally-sustainable methods (look for the organic, shade-grown, or fair trade labels for more certainty).

But corporate sponsorship is not the only pressing issue regarding the corporatization of the university. Wesleyan’s investment policy, currently without a socially responsible mission, is also victim to the supreme forces of free market behavior that disregard ethical, social, humanitarian, or environmental concerns except in regard to profit.

Among many other companies with incriminating backgrounds, Wesleyan is presently invested in American Home Products (AHP) and Lockheed Martin (LM). AHP has a questionable environmental and animal-rights record, and are the makers of the lethal diet-drug combination of Fen-Phen. They have recently (10/8/99) settled to pay $3.75 billion regarding the 3,100 lawsuits against them; not only did AHP directly lose money, but its stock has been suffering. By maintaining its investment, Wesleyan financially and morally suffers alongside.

Wesleyan also reinvested in Lockheed Martin, the nation’s largest defense contractor as of 1998 despite student pressure last year to remain out of LM’s stock. Objection was based on LM’s involvement in the ongoing bombing campaigns in Iraq and formerly in the Balkans, its production of land mines (banned by nearly every other industrial nation but the United States), and its active participation in arms export trade such as with the violent, pro-Jakarta Indonesian army in East Timor. As with AHP, LM’s environmental record is both careless and costly. LM was also responsible for the September 30, 1999, explosion of NASA’s $1.25 million Mars orbiter when LM scientists oddly made their calculations in pounds despite the long-standing international scientific use of the metric system. Again, a company with a questionable role in society is an equally dubious financial investment.

It is time for Wesleyan to take a hard look at the corporations it supports and to analyze how we can make our economic behavior reflect the mission of this university. In this period of self-definition, as demonstrated in last year’s "Strategy for Wesleyan," it is necessary that we acknowledge that Wesleyan’s endowment must undergo the same ethical and practical scrutiny that is devoted to academics. "Moral sensibility" and "effective citizenship" must occur both inside and outside the classroom.

Dankoff’s Wespeak highlights the threat of corporatization in eroding Wesleyan’s unique identity by revamping our buildings and education in accordance with profit-driven, mass consumer market goals. However, Dankoff fails to realize that this process is not inevitable. His greatest mistake is thinking that there is nothing to be done. Resorting to apathy only plays into the hands of those who do not find fault with the corporatization of the university. Students, who both pay for and compose the university, have the right, responsibility, and capacity to play a larger role on campus to reestablish the institutional priorities of Wesleyan University.

The Economic Action Coalition (EAC) and Wesleyan’s chapter of the international Student Alliance to Reform Corporations (STARC) have jointly taken this first step. Working together and with other schools across the nation, we have been formulating the exact procedures by which Wesleyan’s economic actions will be in keeping with the school’s mission to cultivate "moral and intellectual leadership" while remaining economically profitable. Otherwise, Wesleyan as an institution fails to adequately fulfill its societal commitment by not exhibiting consistent leadership.

A great way to get involved in this issue is to attend the forum "Wesleyan and Socially Responsible Behavior" to be held Monday, Nov. 2nd. Intending to open this issue to broader campus dialogue, this forum, co-sponsored with the Treasurer’s Office, will provide an opportunity for people of all backgrounds and knowledge to learn and contribute to the decisions regarding your education and your money. The panel will consist of trustee-alumnus from a wide variety of activist and economic backgrounds.

Secondly, STARC’s first annual conference (www.corpreform.org) will be held at Yale, Nov. 5-7. This educational, collaborative, and action-packed weekend aims to articulate the methods, mechanisms, and goals of our corporate reform campaign. Moreover, the representatives of the nearly 200 involved schools will be deciding on STARC’s role in the international campaign for transparency and accountability at the World Trade Organization.

This is an incredibly exciting semester for economic justice on campus. If you want to see your money, your education, and your morals work hand-in-hand, please get involved. For further questions, we encourage you to contact Alan Sable (X5137), Meredith Lobel (X4579) or Rose Cahn (X5719).

Lobel, class of 2001, is a member of EAC and STARC.