Disarm UCL

victory for disarmUCL!

2009-11-10T14:03:00.004Z

After three years hard campaigning by disarmUCL, UCL has caved in and will shortly sell its shares in the arms trader Cobham plc!

Jason Clarke, secretary to the Ethical Investment Review Committee, said that the committee members were impressed by the arguments laid out in our divestment requests, and confirmed that the committee agreed with us that UCL should dispose of its shares in Cobham because of ethical concerns. UCL's Investment committee raised no objection and the move was confirmed by UCL Council, which met in October.

Just a reminder of what our campaign has achieved: 3 years ago we discovered after a Freedom of Information request that UCL was the largest university investor in the arms trade (with over £1.5 million invested) but there was no way for students to find out about or influence UCL's investments. As a direct result of our student & alumni campaigning we now have transparency over investments, a Ethical Investment Review Committee with student representation, and most importantly, the remaining arms shares in Cobham will be sold!

The situation isn't perfect, as we called for equal student & alumni representation on the committee, whereas we've got one student out of 5 members, and the committee has no remit to consider positive investment or engagement. But this is still a massive achievement! (and don't let anyone tell you its down to the recession!)

Check out The London Student for the full story.

For information about the committee, see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/academic-services/eirc/.
Any 'member of the UCL community' can make a divestment request over any particular investment, and the list of investments are available by emailing alison.woodhams@ucl.ac.uk

well done everyone!
DisarmUCL

Congratulations ! Craig Griffiths elected UCLU ethics and environment officer

2009-03-14T09:28:00.005Z

Craig Griffiths, a dedicated People and Planet and Disarm UCL campaigner, has been voted the new ethics and environment officer at UCLU for next academic year.

We hope that Craig will be able to make a real difference and closely monitor the implementation of UCL's ethical investment policy and the work of the Ethical Investment Review Committee.

Congratulations, Craig ! And good luck with the job !

"They just don’t show no disrespect"

2009-02-19T09:51:00.001Z

Mark Steele has mentioned our campaign in his latest comment piece on student activism in the Independent.

Click here to read the piece.

UCL Ethical Investment Review Committee (EIRC) not set up yet !

2009-02-14T08:48:00.006Z

As part of the National Action Day Against The Arms Trade over 40 UCL students and alumni have submitted a letter requesting divestment from arms trader Cobham plc.

We also used the opportunity to ask Jason Clarke, Deputy Director of Academic Services, more detailed questions about the EIRC. Turns out: a month and a half after the adoption of the Ethical Investment Policy the membership of the Ethical Investment Review Committee (EIRC) has not been finalized and no meeting date has yet been allocated.

We are very concerned about this delay in setting up the EIRC and the potential lack of transparency of EIRC decisions. We will monitor the situation over the next month very closely. Please see below for the full answers by Jason Clarke to our questions:

Q: When is the next meeting of the EIRC ?

A: I am currently exploring possible dates for the EIRC's first meeting. I am afraid that I am not able to confirm a date at this stage, but expect the Committee to be convened within the next month or so.

Q: Who are the members of the EIRC ?

A: I am also currently confirming the membership of the EIRC.

Q: Would it be possible for observers to attend the EIRC meeting ?

A: It is not standard practice for observers to attend meetings of UCL standing committees, but I will raise this point with the EIRC.

Q: Will a record of the EIRC meeting be made publicly available ?

A: We intend to issue at an appropriate stage after each meeting of the EIRC the decisions made. It should be noted that there are some matters on which EIRC is authorised to make an independent decision and others on which it makes recommendations to the Investments Committee. We would not expect to publicise recommendations made by the EIRC until they had been considered by the Investments Committee and, where necessary, by UCL Council.

****************************************************************************

Click this link for the terms of reference of the EIRC

The terms of reference state that:

(ii) The Chair of the Ethical Investment Review Committee may, on behalf of the Committee, invite UCL officers or other non-members to attend a particular meeting of the Committee. Attendance of officers or other non-members at meetings of the Ethical Investment Review Committee shall be by such invitation only.

Thus we assume that it would be possible for the EIRC to invite observers to their meeting.

Students celebrate success of anti-arms trade demonstrations

2009-02-14T08:45:00.002Z

Students on campuses throughout the UK have demonstrated their opposition to the arms trade as part of a national Universities' Day of Action. Following on from the recent wave of demonstrations that swept 19 campuses in January, students, supported by Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), have engaged in activities calling for an end to university involvement with the arms trade.

Click here to read more and who was involved.

NATIONAL ACTION DAY: STUDENTS AGAINST THE ARMS TRADE

2009-02-11T10:02:00.003Z

Today students across the UK are taking action against their universities links with the arms trade.

Click here to read more.

Disarm UCL founded the National Action Day last year together with students from Manchester, Nottingham and Warwick University.

In solidarity with the other student campaigners we will today officially submit the letter demanding divestment from Cobham.

Queen Mary has announced that it will divest from Cobham. When will UCL finally do the same ?

Watch this space !

Queen Mary announces to ditch shares in Cobham

2009-02-03T09:50:00.005Z

Following the occupation of one of their building by students Queen Mary, University of London
announced today that they would divest its' shares in arms trader Cobham plc.

Here is a message by Professor Philip Ogden, Acting Principal of Queen Mary:

"I have responded to the students in occupation of one of our buildings. We (...) have told our financial advisers to dispose of a small holding we had in Cobham. (...)We have an ethical investment policy - ruling out tobacco for example and will now be tightening it further."

Disarm UCL congratulates students at Queen Mary on their great victory and hopes that UCL will now also divest from arms trader Cobham as soon as possible.

Queen Mary occupation blog

Check out their facebook group.

FOR THE LAST TIME: Tell UCL to ditch the arms shares

2009-01-22T10:39:00.008Z

Thanks to everyone who has supported the UCL campaign so far and has helped to bring about this amazing success.

All which is left to do now is to send a request to UCL's new ethical investment review committee and ask them to divest from arms trader Cobham plc.

We have drafted a letter below. So here's what you can do:

Either send the letter yourself to the Deputy Director of Academic Services: jason.clarke@ucl.ac.uk

or e-mail us at info@disarmucl.com with your name, the department you are studying and year of study and we add you to the list of signatories of the letter below. Check this blog for details about the review committee and its decision on Cobham :)

Mr Jason ClarkeDeputy Director of Academic ServicesUCL Gower StreetLondon WC1E 6BTjason.clarke@ucl.ac.uk

Dear Mr.Clarke,

we would like to refer a request to divest shares in arms company Cobham plc currently held in UCL's investment portfolio to the Ethical Investment Review Committee (EIRC).

The equipment produced by Cobham plc generally are subsystems and components, which are then sold to other arms companies such as BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin. These companies then market their weaponry as widely as possible around the world. Although Cobham plc does not often make the headlines, it is an integral part of the global arms trade and its equipment is an important element of many arms deals.

Cobham plc is a multi-national group of companies that is heavily involved in a number of major military aircraft-programmes. It produces avionics, aircraft and missile components and provides military training and communication equipment. For example, Cobham plc produces components of Hellfire Missiles. Such missiles have been used by the USA and are believed to have caused civilian deaths in Iraq. Cobham plc is also responsible for pioneering in-flight refueling which has facilitated the long-range bombing campaigns, that has characterized military operations since the Falklands war.

Cobham plc profits significantly from the sale of military components. It is the world's 46th largest arms producer by military revenue and as such a major player in the international arms trade, which is a major cause of human rights abuses.
UCL as a major university sets an important precedent for the whole sector. Its claim to be a 'global' university with a tradition of liberal ideals and social justice is undermined by its direct support of the 'global' arms trade.

As UCL’s ethical investment policy sets out, investments can be negatively screened if they i.) conflict or be inconsistent with the aims, objectives or activities of UCL, ii) might hamper the work of UCL 'either by alienating financial supporters or potential financial supporters; or by having a material impact on applications from potential students', or iii) are considered by UCL to be unethical, subject to paragraph four of the policy.

We believe that investment in Cobham plc should be brought to an end, as this action would satisfy the criteria in i), ii) and iii). UCL's world class research aims to "shape the future", craft "global citizenship" and improve the world for tomorrow. These are noble aims; the current investment in Cobham plc undermines them all.

We also believe that - in accordance with paragraph four - exclusion of investment in Cobham plc would not result in any significant financial detriment to UCL. The arms trade is a volatile sector, relying on heavy government subsidy and large, highly competitive yet infrequent orders, and does not therefore provide the stability that UCL seeks from its investments. We understand that the current levels of investment in the arms trade is less than 1% of UCL's total investments, and as such its exclusion is unlikely to result in significant financial loss to the university.

In fact UCL's current drive -"the campaign for UCL" - to receive donations from UCL alumni is adversely affected by the investment in Cobham plc, and will continue to be so. Many alumni have already stated - in letters to Provost Malcolm Grant - that they will not make any donations to UCL while investment in the Cobham plc continues. We, the signatories of this letter, will be unable to donate money to UCL now or in the future, if this investment remains.

UCL's liberal tradition - being the first university to admit women & candidates irrespective of religious confession - is a very positive aspect of the university, and a reason for so many students choosing to apply to UCL each year. This is suggested also by the inclusion of such facts in UCL's prospectuses. However we think investment in - and therefore financial support for – Cobham plc, harms this proud history, as the arms trade does not propagate equality and a just society, but rather has warfare as its raison d'être and death and suffering as its consequence. Prospective students who have decided to study at UCL partly on the basis of its history might decide against attending UCL as their tuition fees might support Cobham plc through UCL’s investment.

In conclusion, we are convinced that UCL’s investments in Cobham plc are unethical.

Finally, we believe that the reasons we have set out above are compatible with the charity commission's advice on ethical investment and reflect the views of a wide range of UCL students, staff and alumni.

Yours sincerely,

CAMPAIGN VICTORY: UCL ADOPTS ETHICAL INVESTMENT POLICY

2008-12-20T12:52:00.002Z

From 1 January 2009 UCL will adopt its ethical investment policy.

Click here for the full text of the policy.

This is an amazing victory for the Disarm UCL campaign ! For just over two years we have been campaigning for this policy. Our concerns and opinions were initially dismissed by the Provost but now they have been heard and the ethical investment policy will come into effect on 1 January.

This is a HUGE, HUGE thank you to everyone who helped to make this campaign a success. Your support, hard work and dedication has paid off big time. You should all be very proud of yourselves ! We also hope our victory can inspire campaigners at other universities and shows that students really can make a difference.

Of course there are ways we feel the ethical investment policy can be improved and we will
keep campaigning to improve the policy and make sure that UCL will contribute more profoundly to positive change through its investments. We will also continue to call for equal student representation and - FIRST AND FOREMOST - we will make sure UCL does actually sell its shares in arms trader Cobham plc. For more detailed criticism of the policy please click
here for the latest article in the Cheesegrater.

Please check this blog in future. We will post more details about the ethical investment policy and about the Cobham shares as soon as we know them.

In the meantime: GO OUT AND CELEBRATE !

A Farewell To Arms?

2008-12-20T12:40:00.003Z

Here is the latest article on Disarm UCL in the Cheesegrater:

UCL is due to launch its ethical investment policy in January but the Provost shouldn’t be patting himself on the back just yet

THE LAST WEEK of November was Ethical Investment Week at UCL. In a panel
debate, Sir Stephen Wall, Chair of UCL Council, spoke on the progress of ethical investment at
UCL. For Disarm UCL it was another success in their long-running campaign to persuade College to divest its shares in arms companies and adopt a holistic ethical investment policy.

However, the debate also revealed College’s ambiguous stance to the future for ethical investment at UCL. Concerns were raised that College’s new investment policy, due to be launched in January 2009, would only be a weak nod in the direction of ethical investment.

No blanket ban

Plans are for the assessment of investments on a case-by-case basis, rather than a blanket ban
on investments in arms companies. Although it seems likely that such a policy would mean
UCL divests its notorious shares in Cobham plc (see Cheese Grater issue 12), there would be nothing to stop similar investments being made in the future.

In March Provost Malcolm Grant admitted that it was necessary to extend UCL’s current
guidelines on socially responsible investment which so far only explicitly bans investment
in tobacco companies. The Provost proposed that UCL adopt the ‘Oxford model’ by setting
up a separate ‘Ethical Investment Review Committee’ to take responsibility for the issue.

According to minutes from College Council the parameters for investment set by this committee
might be either ‘negative’ (advising the avoidance of investments in particular areas) or ‘positive’ (advising the active seeking of opportunities to invest in areas seen as concordant with UCL’s mission).

No say for students

There has still been no formal consultation with students, surprising considering the vocal
nature of the student-led Disarm UCL campaign. After pressure from campaigners to investigate the possibilities of ethical investment, a report was produced last year by UCL alumnus Mr Edwin Glasgow QC and Sir Stephen Wall, advising the Provost on UCL’s future investment policy. However this report has been labelled confidential and remains
unavailable to students. Disarm UCL are sceptical about the effectivness of the ‘Ethical Investment Review Committee’.

The committee consists of two lay members, two academic staff and one student.
Disarm UCL and Amnesty International are pressing for equal student representation
which seems appropriate since the committee was established in response to long-term pressure from students. The activities of the EIRC are strangely secretive and it is unclear whether they
have met at all since being established early this year. The committee certainly did not report
to College Council in June, as it was mandated to do in March. Even if the committee does exist,
there is currently no student representation at all as the Sabbs confirmed that they hadn’t decided who would be appropriate, although the job it is likely to fall under the remit of the Environment and Ethics Officer. Education officer Ed Steward has said it would unlikely that the EIRC would be an open committee and according to its terms of
reference it is only mandated to meet twice a year.

Bureaucracy the enemy of action, eh?

Disarm UCL have repeatedly pointed to evidence that suggests ethical investment is not
only equally but more profitable than investments without ethical criteria. UCL has admitted that there may even be a financial penalty for continuing investment in companies that alienate
staff and students. According to a recent report by the UN and Mercer, ethical investment does
not bring a performance penalty and as well as offering companies a moral high ground they
also bring in profitable returns. While college continues to sit on the fence, shares in Cobham plc have been continuously pumping cash into the development of weapons and defence
systems. Rather than seizing the chance to be a true ‘global leader’, by delaying the decision UCL is now lagging far behind divestment at Oxford and Cambridge, whose arms shares the Provost once used to justify UCL’s. The change of policy in January could alter this if College not only divests its arms shares but adopts a holistic ethical investment policy that actively seeks out companies in accordance with UCL ‘global mission’.

Contributors: Christina Ravinet, Jenni Hulse, Sam Steddy, Gareth Spencer, Alex Ashman, Mark Hoffman, Ka Bradley, Toby Youell,
George Starling, George Potts,Thomas Rhoades, Adam Gillet, Katherine Harrison. Special Thanks to Josh Worth.

Ethical Investment campaign week: great success !

2008-12-01T18:38:00.005Z

The ethical investment campaign week last week was a great success.

Members of UCLU People and Planet society had a stall every day at lunchtime in the Union with loads of free food and cheap fair tade drinks. It was a great success and a good opportunity for students to find out more about ethical investment and to share their views. Thanks so much to everyone who helped to organize the stall. Fantastic work !

Members of UCLU Amnesty International Society used their weekly letter writing session to write to the Provost regarding ethical investment (ei) at UCL. Their core demands included: equal student representation on any future ei review committee, the ei policy to be made public, exclusion of all investment in arms companies and also the possibility of positive investments. Thanks to everyone for writing a letter. If you would like to write one, too - please get in touch: info@disarmucl.com

The highlight of the week was the expert panel debate on Tuesday night. We had a great turn out of UCL students and alumni and pretty much filled up the whole lecture theatre. Thanks so much for coming everyone.

We had some really inspiring people on the panel and it was great to discuss ethical investment in general and at UCL in particular. The debate was very lively and there were quite a few different points of view and suggestions. Thank you in particular to Sir Stephen Wall, Chair of UCL Council, for coming and letting us know about the progress of ethical investment at UCL. Sir Stephen acknowledged that UCL's move towards ethical investment had been driven forward by student campaigning and that UCL hopes to present an ethical investment policy in January 2009. The debate continued afterwards at a wine reception in the Economics department.

After the event, Isabel Kwok from Triodos bank, one of the experts on the panel, wrote to us saying: "Thank you (..) to everyone at UCL for welcoming me to take part in such an interesting debate. It really hardly scratched the surface of some very pertinent issues but its so pleasing to see such a strong turn out."

After the event many of the UCL alumni present decided to have another letter writing campaign to the Provost to ensure that ethical investment at UCL is a postive step forward and excludes arms investments. If you are a UCL alumni and would like to get involved please contact our coordinator Dan - info@disarmucl.com

Thanks again to everyone who helped to make last week such a success ! You are all fantastic !

Ethical Investment - more than just a bandwagon?

2008-11-09T14:14:00.007Z

As part of UCL Union EI campaign week we would like to warmly invite you to our expert panel discussion on ethical investment at the UCL economics department.

Ethical Investment - more than just a bandwagon?

The ethical investment (EI) sector has surged in recent years, with a growing number of companies clamouring to display their ethical and green credentials. Will this trend survive the economic downturn? How effective are the different EI approaches? What could UCL's future ethical investment policy look like? What difficulties arise from trying to balance ethical and commerical considerations? And how much of all this is rhetoric?

Join our expert panel for a discussion to explore these questions
We are very fortunate to have secured a distinguished panel of experts:

Sir Stephen Wall (Chair of UCL Council); John Ditchfield (Company Director, Barchester Green Investments); Jack Taylor (Ecology Building Society); Isabel Kwok (Triodos Bank); Ruth Tanner (Campaigns and Policy Director, War on Want)

Tuesday, 25 November 2008 6.15 - 8 pm
at the Drayton Ricardo Lecture Theatre, UCL Economics department

The discussion will be followed by a wine reception.

Everyone welcome but please arrive early to secure your place.

Sign up for the event on facebook.

Great to meet you all !

2008-11-09T14:09:00.004Z

Just quickly to say the CAAT National Gathering went really well yesterday. We went to the universities network workshop and it was really inspiring to meet all the other students who campaign for ethical investment and against their unis involvement with the arms trade all over the UK.

Thanks for coming everyone. Great to meet you all !

More on CAATs universities network here.

Clean Investment - New Shareholding Data Released for 2008

2008-11-06T16:35:00.003Z

New shareholding figures for 2008 have been obtained by Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) for around one hundred higher education institutions in the UK, including all Russell Group members without an Ethical Investment Policy in place and 90% of Oxbridge colleges.

Here's the arms investments data for UCL from June 2008:

£869,825 invested in Cobham plc

Total Assets Invested (all shares): £92.3m
Arms shares as % of total investments: 0.9

Click here for more info on other London colleges

UCL students will attend a universities network workshop at the CAAT National Gathering in London this Saturday. We'll meet with ethical investment campaigners from other UK universities and plan the next ethical investment action day.

EI week planning meeting

2008-10-26T22:39:00.003Z

Joining fortnight is over. But EI week is less than a month away! Please make the meeting to organise for it if you can - 5pm this Tuesday, in the CSC meeting room in the Bloomsbury building.

We will be planning events and activities for the week starting 24th November, and assessing the direction future campaigning should take. If you haven't been involved before, don't be shy! Those who are interested but can't make the meeting, please send us an email.

see you Tuesday!

Tomorrow's meeting location

2008-09-30T11:37:00.001Z

Sorry for the short notice! The room is Cruciform Foyer Seminar Room 1. That's tomorrow at 5, in the Cruciform Building on Gower St.

Meeting 5pm Wednesday 1st

2008-09-28T17:30:00.002Z

Thanks to all of you who visited our stall at Freshers' Fayre! Hopefully we will see some of you at our first meeting of the academic year.

Though a lot of progress has been made last year, with UCL making moves to set up an Ethical Investment policy, we are not there yet! Come to the first meeting (room shortly to be confirmed) to find out how to get involved. Those who want to know more about the issues surrounding Ethical Investment are also welcome – come with any questions you want to ask. After a brief introduction and discussion we will start thinking about where the campaign should go from here, including a brainstorming for the Ethical Investment week in November.

Meeting at 5pm Wednesday 1st October – there will be refreshments (vegetarians and vegans catered for!)

Workshop on ethical investment campaigning at People and Planet summer gathering

2008-06-09T07:55:00.006Z

Here's a message from UCLU People and Planet Society:

People & Planet will be holding their annual Summer Gathering between Sunday 29th June to Thursday 3rd July – four days of discussing campaigns, learning new skills, sharing experiences, and generally having fun.

On the agenda is a session on Ethical Investment. This a great chance for ethical investment campaigners up and down the country to discuss the ethical investment student network – a chance for various campaigners to meet face to face and share their ideas and hopefully successes.

We all know that the tide is turning against higher education investment in the arms trade but now is the time to capitalise on the all the recent hard ground work done by ourselves.

Obviously it would be great to have as many people & planet activists join us in the Oxfordshire countryside for the whole event, but if you can only come down for this one session, then there shouldn’t be any problems with that.

Click here for more info or e-mail us at: info@disarmucl.com

TIMES HIGHER: UCL joins moves to cancel investment in arms trade

2008-06-09T06:54:00.004Z

Article about UCL moving towards ethical investment in Times Higher Education !

CLICK HERE TO READ IT

Meeting TODAY @ 3 pm

2008-06-05T07:32:00.004Z

Come along to the last Disarm meeting for this academic year.

It will take place TODAY (Thursday, 5th June) at 3pm in the main room in the CSC (2nd floor, Bloomsbury theatre building).

We'll be planning the next steps for the campaign over the summer and for next year.

Everyone welcome !

It's been an excellent year for the Disarm UCL campaign. Highlights included Disarm UCL campaign week, two fantastic photostunts, extensive media coverage, linking up with other dedicated ethical investment campaigners at other unis and of course meeting Lord Joffe (Nelson Mandelas lawyer), who had some extremely encouraging things to say about our campaign !

We will be following the next UCL Council meeting on 18 June closely and the results of the sub committee for ethical investment, which is due to report at the meeting. Check this blog for details.

Thanks to everyone for your dedication, enthusiasm and creativity this year.

If you want to get involved next year but you can't make todays' meeting - drop us a line:
info@disarmucl.com and/or join us on facebook.

Disarm UCL campaigners win Student Union awards

2008-05-14T15:05:00.001Z

This year not one, not two, but THREE dedicated Disarm UCL campaigners are receiving an award by the UCL Union Social Colours and Arts Awards Committee.

Second year undergrad Craig Griffiths (UCLU People and Planet Society) will be awarded the Social Colours award and MA student Ed Hood (UCLU Stop the War Society) and PhD student Sara Hall will both receive the centenerary award.

CONGRATULATIONS ! WELL DONE !

Awards are given to students, who have made an outstanding contribution to the UCL community. The award ceremony will take place on 28 May.
We at Disarm UCL are delighted that three of our members are receiving the awards. We believe that everyone involved in the Disarm UCL campaign deserves an award for an outstanding contribution to the UCL community: getting our university to move towards an ethical investment policy !

CONGRATULATIONS ! WELL DONE EVERYONE !

We will of course continue to campaign for UCL to ditch the shares in arms company Cobham, for UCL to adopt a meaningful ethical investment policy and for student and alumni representation on any committee dealing with the question of ethical investment at our university.

Join us !

Disarm UCL students and alumni on facebook !

To be added to our mailing list please drop us a line: info@disarmucl.com

UCL Council sets up a sub-committee on ethical investment

2008-03-20T00:33:00.007Z

Dominique Fourniol, Head of Media Relations at UCL released the following information regarding the UCL Council discussion on ethical investment last week:

'At its meeting on 13 March, UCL Council received the report of a review, commissioned by the Provost, of UCL's approach to ethical standards in investment selection. Council agreed that, in the light of this review, UCL should further develop its socially responsible investment (SRI) policy - and is setting up a sub-committee of Council to take this work forward. The sub-committee is charged to submit to the next Council meeting in June specific proposals for the further development and implementation of SRI policy at UCL.'

We congratulate UCL Council on taking steps towards ethical investment.

WE CALL ON UCL COUNCIL TO GIVE STUDENTS AND ALUMNI A FORMAL CONSULTATIVE ROLE IN DEVELOPING THE ETHICAL INVESTMENT POLICY !

MEETING TODAY @ 6 pm and END OF TERM DRINKS

2008-03-17T09:59:00.004Z

We'll be meeting today at 6 pm in the CSC meeting room to discuss the decision of UCL Council to delay the adoption of an ethical investment policy and plan the next steps for the campaign.

Two anti-arms trade/ethical investment campaigners from Warwick university will be at the meeting as well and share their experiences about the National Day of Action for ethical investment at Warwick university.

EVERYONE WELCOME !

Afterwards we'll be going out for END OF TERM DRINKS in the Union Bar. It's been a really good term of dedicated campaigning to Disarm UCL and everyone deserves a celebration :) - and it's Jen's 21st today so we have even more reason to celebrate :) Happy Birthday, Jen !

UCL Council hestitates again to come clean on investment

2008-03-15T11:28:00.004Z

Yesterday we received the following information from Jim Hunkin, who was present at the UCL Council meeting as Acting Finance and Administration Officer of UCL Student Union.

"The proposal that UCL has an ethical investment policy was indeed discussed at the UCL Council meeting yesterday. The committee took the view that the investment policy was a very complicated issue and thus decided that there needs to be more consideration before a decision can be reached. That’s pretty much what they agreed!"

The Disarm UCL campaign calls on UCL Council to adopt an ethical investment policy swilftly and give students and alumni a formal consultative role in the process.

WE ALSO CALL ON UCL COUNCIL TO DITCH THE ARMS SHARES IMMIDIATELY !

Since the UCL Council meeting Jim Hunkin has been suspended by the UCL Union Sabbatical Officers, following a motion of no confidence.

Report on ethical investment to be presented to UCL Council tomorrow

2008-03-11T19:55:00.004Z

Andrew Fernando, Education and Welfare Officer at UCL Student Union confirmed to me today on the phone that he believes that Edwin Glasgow will present his report on ethical investment at UCL to the UCL Council tomorrow.

We will post news on this here - so keep checking this site

The proposal at UCL comes weeks after Oxford University has published a "Report of the Working Group set up to consider the implementation of a Socially Responsible Investment Policy." Contact us at info@disarmucl.com for a copy of the Oxford report.

The Disarm UCL campaign and UCL Union call on the UCL Council to:

IMMEDIATELY DIVEST FROM ARMS TRADER COBHAM PLC
make the timetable for developing an ethical investment policy clear and publicly available
give a formal consultative role for students and alumni in the process of developing and monitoring an ethical investment policy for UCL

Arms dealers in the quad ! UCL students protest UCL's investment in arms trader Cobham

2008-02-27T15:46:00.006Z

Just a quick one to say that the Disarm UCL protest in the quad went really well today. We dressed up as arms dealers and tried to sell toy guns and missiles to everyone around in the quad. Our opening line "Can we interest you in any missile components today ?" made people stop and talk to us about the ongoing arms investments.

The vast majority of students were outraged by the arms investments and signed our petition.

There were also many prospective students in the quad having a look round their future university. We talked to them about the arms investment. The future students were shocked to learn that UCL invests in the international arms trade.

One prospective student I spoke to told me: "This is outrageous. I will not let the arms investments stop me from coming to UCL. I want to join you to make sure UCL adopts an ethical investment policy."

Our protest today was part of a national action day for ethical investment. Students at seven other universities across the country also protested against the dirty investments of their unis.

I've just spoken to Barnaby Pace, a third year mechanical engineering student at Warwick on the phone: "It is really inspiring to be part of this national movement for ethical investment at UK universities" he told me. "Like you guys at UCL we also dressed up as arms dealers today. We got a lot of positive responses from students and staff. Most people believe that the international arms trade should have no place in a university. "

Well done to everyone at UCL and around the country who took part in the action day. It really is time for UCL and the other unis to come clean on investment !

The BBC reported about the national action Day.

UCL Arms Dealers in the Quad - Wednesday 12 - 2

2008-02-26T20:39:00.003Z

Next meeting: MONDAY @ 6 pm

2008-02-08T10:07:00.000Z

The next Disarm UCL meeting is on Monday, 11 February at 6 pm in the Clubs and Societies meeting room, 2nd floor, Bloomsbury theatre, Gordon Street.

We'll be discussing the next steps for the campaign around UCL. There has also been quite a lot of interesting new general information on ethical investment -so there'll be more info on that.

Click here for the latest piece in the FT on ethical investment.

See you Monday !

National Action Day for ethical investment

2008-01-30T14:30:00.000Z

Students across the UK are getting together and are planning a National Action Day for ethical investment at their universities. For more info click here. If you want to find out what's happening at UCL contact us: info@disarmucl.com

Next meeting on MONDAY @ 6 pm

2008-01-24T08:54:00.000Z

The next Disarm UCL meeting is on Monday, 28 January at 6 pm in the Clubs and Societies meeting room, 2nd floor, Bloomsbury theatre, Gordon Street.

We'll be planning a national action day on ethical investment and other exciting activities.

See you then !

Meet us at Re-freshers fayre

2008-01-16T14:46:00.000Z

Disarm UCL will be taking part in UCL Unions Re-freshers Fayre tommorrow (Thursday, 17 January) from 11 am - 4 pm in the Cloisters, Wilkins Building.

We will be based at the People and Planet stall so come and see us there, chat to us about actions against UCL's arms investments and sign our petition.

See you there !

Download the Disarm UCL web banner

2008-01-13T12:51:00.000Z

Support the Disarm UCL Campaign ! Display our banner on your blog or website:

Want this badge?

Disarm UCL article in London Progressive Journal

2008-01-11T08:27:00.000Z

Click here to check out an article about Disarm UCL in the first issue of London Progressive Journal.

Next meeting: TODAY @ 6 pm

2008-01-10T11:32:00.000Z

The next Disarm UCL meeting is today at 6 Clubs and Societies meeting room, 2nd floor, Bloomsbury theatre, Gordon Street.

Come and help us plan the Disarm UCL activities for this term. See you there !

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Disarm UCL !

2007-12-06T16:31:00.000Z

The UCL council yesterday looked at the proposal for ethical investment brought forward by the Disarm UCL campaign. Download the proposal here.

I have been told that Council members were impresssed and appreciated that our proposal is serious and well written. This is in line with the impression I had when chatting to some of the Council members in the corridor prior to the meeting.

Unfortunately the UCL Council yesterday did not have the confidence to make a very clear move towards ethical investment and decided that UCL will continue investing in arms trader Cobham.

Students, staff and alumni at UCL will be back at the beginning of next year with more creative campaigning to ditch the disgraceful arms shares and we will monitor the development of an ethical investment policy closely.

For the time being: We're going to hit the Union bar tonight for Birthday drinks: The Disarm UCL campaign is one year old today !

Everyone welcome ! We'll kick off at 7 pm in Easyjays in the Union ! See you there !

Disarm UCL article on New Statesman politics site today !

2007-12-04T15:18:00.000Z

An article discussing UCL's arms investments is today featured on the New Statesman politics website.

Please comment on the article here.

More national press coverage for Disarm UCL

2007-12-03T09:13:00.000Z

On Thursday the Times Higher on page 3 published a big photo from the Disarm UCL "graduation from university of war" photo stunt.

A picture of the protest and an article about the opposition to UCL's arms investment were also published in West End Extra on Friday.

Well done, everyone. You are brilliant ! And famous now :))

If Bentham had a grave he'd be spinning in it

2007-11-29T23:35:00.001Z

UCL alumnus Richard Wilson has written another brilliant comment piece protesting against UCL's arms investments on the Guardian website. Check it out.

Read and comment here

The Independent today published link to Disarm UCL petition for readers to sign

2007-11-29T15:45:00.000Z

The Higher Education Supplement of the Independent on page 2 has today reported about the Graduation cermony from "the university of war" Disarm UCL campaigners staged two days ago. They have also published the link to our online petition for interested readers to sign :).

On the same page a letter by UCL alumna Dr. Kate Wilson was published. Dr. Wilson wrote she was "dismayed" by UCL investments in Cobham and said that the ongoing arms investements call UCL's commitment to developing a sound, long-term ethical investement policy into question.

"UCL sticks to its guns"

2007-11-28T08:43:00.000Z

"UCL sticks to its guns" was the headline in an article in the Evening Standard yesterday evening. The piece focused on UCL's ongoing investment in arms trader Cobham and mentioned the Disarm UCL protest yesterday.

Well done, everyone who came to the stunt ! You made the papers the very same day :). Good work !

UCL students stage graduation ceremony from “University of War”

2007-11-27T15:21:00.000Z

UCL students gathered in front of UCL Dome today dressed in
camouflage uniforms and with mortarboards on their heads. As a protest against
UCL's investment in Cobham plc – a leading arms company – they staged a spoof
graduation ceremony in which a student dressed as a general handed out diplomas
and toy guns to students.

Most UCL students approached by the campaigners knew about UCL’s arms
investments and voiced their disgust at UCL’s investment decision. Over 700
people have backed the campaign calling on UCL to ditch the shares.

Craig Griffiths, a student campaigner said:

“UCL tells us that it wants to look into investing its money ethically. Clinging
on to the arms shares calls the commitment to ethical investment into question.
Many UCL alumni have told the Provost that they will not donate to UCL as long
as the arms investment continues. UCL students are outraged. It is time to
ditch the arms shares.”

UCL Student protest: Graduating from the University of War

2007-11-26T09:10:00.000Z

Tuesday, 27 November, 12.30 - 1.30 pm, UCL Quad, Gower Street ,WC1

UCL students and alumni will gather in front of UCL Dome and “graduate” dressed in camouflage uniforms and mortarboards on their heads. This will be a protest against UCL's investment in arms company Cobham Plc.

One student dressed as a military general will hand out diplomas and toy guns in a spoof graduation ceremony. Other students will hold a banner protesting against the investment. UCL students and staff will sign a petition asking UCL to pull out of the arms trade.

Come along
Sign the petition
Get involved

Student Union tells UCL to ditch arms shares by 14 December

2007-11-20T22:42:00.000Z

Great news:

The UCL Union Council voted tonight UNANIMOUSLY to lobby UCL to disinvest from Cobham PLC before the end of the 2007 winter term.

The amendment to an earlier ethical investment motion was brought forward by the Ethics and Environment officer of UCL Union.

NONE of the UCL Union Council members at the meeting even wanted to make a speech opposing the amendment. This is yet another prove that there is no one left at UCL who wants to stand up and defend the arms investments.

UCL Union also calls on UCL to give a formal role to students and alumni in the developmental process of an ethical investment policy and to establish this policy swiftly, with the process and timetable for designing and implementing it made clear and publicly available.

Read the full text of the motion here

We call on decision makers at UCL not to ignore the voices of students any longer ! Ditch the arms shares NOW !

Please sign and promote our online petition here

Disarm UCL campaign week - great success !

2007-11-17T22:07:00.000Z

Thanks to everyone who helped out with Disarm UCL campaign week. We really had a successful week. Our lunchtime stalls in the Union went well and we got a lot of signatures for our petition.

We also developed a proposal for ethical investment at UCL (download the proposal here) and discussed our suggestions with Lord Joffe and Edwin Glasgow, who is looking into ethical investment at UCL.

We still need to get a few more signatures for our petition to hit our target so please help us promote the online petition and get all your mates to sign it.

You can also print out a paper petition here and pass it round in your lectures. Please return signed petitions to: UCLU People and Planet Society, 2nd floor Bloomsbury Theatre (behind reception). Cheers.

Please come to our next meeting: Thursday, 22 November at 5 pm at CSC meeting room, 2nd floor Bloomsbury theatre.

At the meeting we will plan our next Disarm UCL photostunt.

Don't miss it !

Sign the BRAND NEW petition.

2007-11-08T23:42:00.000Z

PLEASE SIGN HERE TO TELL UCL TO DITCH THE ARMS SHARES NOW

DISARM UCL BIG IN THE NEWS

2007-11-06T07:34:00.000Z

Disarm UCL features in an article on universities and ethical investment
in the INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE.

Read it here.

Also: Disarm UCL is sharing the secrets behind the success of getting UCL to move towards ethical investment on the New Statesman website.

Read and comment on it here.

All your questions on ethical investment answered

2007-11-06T07:26:00.000Z

Want to find out more about universities and ethical investment ?

Students campaigning for ethical investment have set up an ethical investment wiki.

It's a great resource. Check it out !

It also features a mailing list you can post questions to regarding ethical investment.

DISARM UCL CAMPAIGN WEEK 12th - 16th November

2007-11-03T17:53:00.000Z

Watch out for the up-coming Disarm UCL campaign week

The week will see the launch a new petition calling for immediate divestment from arms trader Cobham PLC and for a serious commitment to ethical investment at UCL.

Disarm UCL will have a stall in the Union at lunchtime on 14, 15 and 16 November. Come and sign our petition and talk to us about the issue.

If you want to help out with collecting signatures - just show up at the stall between 12 - 2 pm.

During the campaign week members of Disarm UCL will be meeting with Lord Joel Joffe to discuss ethical investment and our suggestions to UCL Council on how to move forward on this matter.

Thanks a lot to everyone who voted for the Disarm UCL campaign bid. Your vote helped us win !

Disarm UCL alumni network

2007-11-03T17:41:00.000Z

UCL alumni who are dismayed by UCL's investments in arms companies have set up a Disarm UCL alumni network.

If you are an ex-UCL student and would like to get involved there are two easy things you can do:

1) Join us on facebook ! Join the Disarm UCL alumni group here.

2) Contact our alumni coordinator Dan ! E-mail him for more information on how you can make a difference: info@disarmucl.com

Next Meeting: 1 November @ 6 pm

2007-10-31T14:16:00.000Z

The next campaign meeting for Disarm UCL will be in the CSC main room (2nd floor bloomsbury theatre building) tomorrow (1st Nov) at 6pm.

We will discuss the current situation regarding UCL and the arms shares and tentative moves towards an ethical investment policy. Come along to get involved and come up with creative campaigning ideas, or just to find out more about UCL's investments in the arms trade and the campaign for ethical investment and to ditch the shameful arms shares.

See you there !

The trade that killed my sister

2007-10-17T07:16:00.000Z

Disarm UCL got mentioned in the October/November issue of Red Pepper magazine.

On page 64 Red Pepper has published an interview with Disarm UCL supporter Richard Wilson, an UCL alumnus:

"Richard Wilson has campaigned against the arms trade since the death of his sister Charlotte in Burundi in 2000. He is the author of Titanic Express, which tells the story of his search for the truth behind Charlotte's death. He told Symon Hill why he is determined to work against companies profiting from war. (...)"

It's a moving interview. Do read it if you get the chance.

NEXT MEETING ON MONDAY, 15 OCTOBER

2007-10-11T08:44:00.000Z

Everyone is most welcome to come to our next meeting on Monday, 15 October at 7 pm.

Place: Wilkins Jeremy Bentham Room

We will be discussing what fun and creative ways we will use for campaigning this year and our ideas for an ethical investment policy.

Please do come along. Everyone welcome.

And in case you haven't voted for the Disarm UCL campaigning bid yet: Today is your last chance ! Click here to vote.

YOUR VOTE FOR DISARM UCL

2007-10-04T21:46:00.000Z

If you think UCLs arms shares are a disgrace and that your uni should ditch the shares in arms trader Cobham please support the Disarm UCL campaigning bid.

Click here to vote for Disarm UCL

It only takes 10 seconds to vote and all you have to do is enter your UCL e-mail address. Get your mates to vote as well.

Every single vote is much needed and much appreciated :)

Many Freshers are aware of UCLs arms investments - and oppose them !

2007-10-01T23:46:00.000Z

Thanks a lot to everyone who came to speak to us at the Disarm UCL stall at Freshers Fayre. It was great to talk to so many supportive people. Many of those we spoke to were already aware of UCLs investments in arms trader Cobham PLC. It surprised us a little bit that so many Freshers and graduate students who just started to study at UCL had already heard about the arms investments. The vast majority of them were supportive of the Disarm UCL campaign. It just goes to show how damaging the arms shares are for UCLs reputation.

The next meeting of Disarm UCL will take place on Monday, 15 October. Exact time and place to be announced. Will be great to see you all then.

In the meantime: Join our facebook group and invite all your mates to join as well.

New round of campaigning to Disarm UCL

2007-09-18T15:52:00.000Z

As a new academic year is about to start students and staff at UCL are getting ready for a new round of campaigning to Disarm UCL.

UCL still invests in arms trader Cobham plc. As at 31 August 2007 the
market value of shares held in Cobham PLC was 884 000 Pounds.

We call on UCL to divest from Cobham PLC asap.

The UCL Councils decision to set up a working group to develop an ethical investment policy came as a great success for our campaign at the end of last academic year.

Read the minutes of the Council meeting of 13 June here. You will need a UCL username and password to log in.

Disarm UCL welcomes the establishment of the working group. We will make sure that students and staff get their say on ethical investment of their university, too. Get in touch !

Disarm UCL was a great campaign to be involved in last year. We hope to make it even more fun and more succesful this year. Join us !

Join our facebook group and come and chat to us at Freshers Fayre (North Cloisters - N 29) !

UCL Provost comes clean on investment following Disarm UCL campaign

2007-06-14T20:59:00.000Z

UCL students, staff and alumni have welcomed UCL Provost Malcolm Grant’s support for adopting an ethical investment policy. The Provost in yesterday’s UCL Council meeting agreed that it was time for UCL to invest its money ethically. The announcement follows a dynamic and broadly-based campaign, which called on UCL to divest from its’ £ 900,000 worth of shares in arms trader Cobham plc. Over 1200 UCL students, staff and alumni have signed a petition in support of the Disarm UCL campaign.

Environment and Ethics UCL Student Union officer Joyce Ngai said:

“We are delighted with the wise decision that the UCL Provost and the UCL Council have taken. Ethical investment is the future. UCL has proven itself to be a truly global and innovative leader. We believe this ground-breaking move will be an inspiration to other universities to take the issue of ethical investment seriously."

UCL student and campaigner Jonny Mears said:

“Selling the shares in arms trader Cobham must be UCL’s priority now. A future ethical investment policy must exclude investment in arms companies. We will monitor the progress on this issue closely. We hope that our fellow students around the UK will take heart from this fantastic result here at UCL, and push for clean investment at their own university.”

Please comment here on Disarm UCL campaign success !

Global university without a global conscience

2007-06-12T11:00:00.000Z

The New Statesman website has today published a comment piece on UCL's investment in arms companies prior to the UCL Council meeting tomorrow.

Quite a few people have left comments and have called on the UCL Council to support an ethical investment policy for UCL.

Join the debate: Read and comment here.

UP IN ARMS AT UCL

2007-06-12T10:49:00.001Z

A letter from the Disarm UCL campaign was published last Thursday (7 June) in the Independent - Higher Education Supplement (p. 2):

"As the first year of top-up fees comes to an end, many universities are describing students as consumers. Unfortunately, they do not always realise that students are amongst Britain's most ethical consumers. In this regard, the focus of University College London (UCL) leaves much to be desired.

Over 1,200 UCL students, staff and alumni last week called on UCL Provost Malcolm Grant to divest over £ 900,000 worth of shares in the arms trader Cobham PLC and to adopt an ethical investment policy. In a meeting with campaigners, Grant refused genuinely to engage with the question of divestment from Cobham.

As consumers we want some influence on where our money goes. According to the Financial Times in 2005, the Church of England's ethical fund, which rules out the arms trade, performed second best out of 1,000 funds surveyed.

As students, staff and alumni, we want UCL to have a good name. We don’t believe that the arms shares, which constitute only about 1% of UCLs overall investment, are worth the damage to UCL’s reputation.

As people, we want our global university to have a global conscience."

Richard Wilson and Sara Hall

Disarm UCL campaign

Students go to war against uni's arms company funding

2007-06-12T10:37:00.000Z

Anyone seen the article in the Camden New Journal from last Thursday (7 June). ?

In case you've missed it here's how it starts:

"Furious students have criticised their university for using their fees to "fund murder" and line the pockets of wealthy arms companies.

Camouflaged campaigners wearing mortarboards and wielding toy guns stormed the main quad of University College London last week to protest against university bosses' ongoing decision to fund Cobham Plc, an arms company that supplies weapons parts to conflicts in the Middle East. (...)"

pretty cool, eh ?

1,000 UCL students tell provost to ditch arms shares

2007-06-01T11:45:00.000Z

UCL Provost Malcolm Grant was yesterday presented with a petition signed by over1,000 UCL staff and students calling on him to sell UCL’s shares in an arms company. The provost also received a hand-signed copy of a book by UCL alumnus Richard Wilson, in which he describes how his sister died as a result of thearms trade.

Richard Wilson is just one of the UCL graduates who has given his backing to Disarm UCL, which calls for the College to divest from arms trader Cobham plc and to adopt an ethical investment policy. Malcolm Grant now has the chance to read Richard’s account of his sister Charlotte’s death at the hands of a militia in Burundi. Her killers told her that she was dying because of “the white people supplying the weapons in Africa”.

Richard Wilson said:“By handing this company over £ 900, 000 with which to do business, UCL is making itself complicit in that business, and its impact on the world. In producing components for military aircraft which are then sold to some of the most depraved regimes on the planet, Cobham is as responsible for the deaths that result as the people who produced the bullets that killed my sister.”

UCL student and campaigner Ed Hood said:“There is no reason at all to invest in business that kills. Financially UCLwould do equally well if it were to invest in ethical business. UCL prides itself to be a global university. We want a global university to show a global conscience.”

After meeting the provost student and alumni campaigners protested in UCL’s main quad dressed in camouflage uniforms, with toy guns in their hands and mortarboards on their heads.

The Gower Street Gunrunners

2007-05-31T12:57:00.000Z

UCL alumnus Richard Wilson has written a brilliant comment piece “The Gower Street Gunrunners” on UCLs’ arms investments on the Guardian Comment is free website.

It has caused some lively debate. Check it out !

Disarm UCL gig - don't miss it !

2007-05-16T17:51:00.000Z

On Monday, 28 May the UCL Union Live Music Society will hold a gig in association with Disarm UCL.

This will be a great way of celebrating the successes of the campaign so far and the end of the academic year. And of course to hear some great bands: BUEN CHICO, CHIK BUDO, THE REBECAS and SEXYKIDS. Do come along !

The gig will take place on Monday 28 May at The Fly, opposite centre point and down a bit (tottenham court road tube). Doors open from 7.30.

It's 4 quid for good music and a good cause ! Don't miss it !

Alumni pledge to write to Provost to Disarm UCL

2007-04-26T16:14:00.000Z

UCL alumnus Dan Ozarow set up an online pledge for other alumni to rally behind the Disarm UCL campaign. Within one week the pledge was successful: the required number of alumni signed up to write to the Provost to tell him to ditch UCL's shares in arms companies.

Missed it? It’s not too late: the pledge is still open for signatures until 17 May.
Sign here

UCL Union votes to Disarm UCL!

2007-02-27T11:25:00.000Z

Yesterday, at the UCL Union council meeting the union voted overwhelmingly in favour of the Disarm UCL motion on Ethical Investment.

This will really help our campaign, particularly when we go and speak to the provost in the next couple of weeks. Thanks to those of you that turned up and helped argue in support of the motion.

There's still much more work to do, and if you haven't signed the petition yet then please do add your voice to the campaign.

Next meeting

2007-02-16T13:35:00.000Z

The next Disarm UCL meeting will be happening on Monday 19 February at 5pm in the Clubs and Societies Centre, 2nd floor of the Bloomsbury Building. We will be discussing what we have achieved so far, the recent UCL AGM and our upcoming meeting with the provost.

Please come along and get involved.

Union AGM woes

2007-02-14T18:00:00.000Z

Thanks to everyone who came down to the UCL Union AGM, unfortunately we never got to hear our motion. Nick Barnard, the Union's Media & Communications officer explained why in an email to UCL students today.

First off, we’ll have a report on the paradoxically successful but ultimately disappointing UCLU AGM.

With around 100 people in Cruciform LT1, we are reliably informed it was the best-attended since 2004 and, with several motions sure to produce excellent debate on the agenda, things were looking good. However, during the discussion of the first motion, a request for a count to check quoracy was made.

For those of you unfamiliar, quoracy is a certain percentage of the potential membership that must attend a meeting before its decisions are outright binding. For our AGM, the quoracy is 1% of the total membership (which all of you), which works out to around 190 people. Unfortunately, the requisite numbers were not present, which meant that the meeting was forced to close.

Because the Annual Report and Audited Accounts had already been approved by the meeting, another General Meeting is not planned to be held. Instead, if the proposers wish, the motions submitted can be carried on to the next meeting of Union Council (Monday 26th February) and be voted on. All members of the Union are eligible (and indeed encouraged) to attend and be granted speaking rights.

You can still look over the motions submitted at
http://www.uclunion.org/student-union/noticeboard/index.php

This means we'll probably resubmit the motion and ask people to come down again and vote on the 26 February. We'll keep you up to date on what happens.

Use your vote: make the Union disarm UCL!

2007-02-06T13:13:00.000Z

Please come to the UCL Union's Annual General Meeting between 4-6pm on Thursday 8 February at Cruciform Lecture Theatre 1, Cruciform Building, Gower Street to vote for UCL Union to oppose UCL's investments in arms companies.

We have submitted a motion to the union regarding UCLs ethical investment policy regarding the arms trade and calling on the union to oopppose UCLs investment in arms shares and to actively campaign for them to disinvest.

The full text can be seen here:
AGM Motion on Ethical Investment

We need to get as many people as possible along to the AGM so we can vote for this motion to be passed. The importance of this cannot be understated: the union holds a lot of sway with UCL because it represents the interests of all UCL students and as such can influence a lot of people. If the union passses the motion it will seriously help our campaign. We are also due to meet with Provost Malcolm Grant soon to discuss the shares so again Union backing would be very helpful.

Please come along on Thursday (remember to bring your ID and session cards) and bring as many people as you can!!!

Take it to the Quad!

2007-01-29T15:00:00.000Z

Students officially launched the Disarm UCL campaign today with an action in the main entrance to the campus. Flyers were handed out to students aswell as collecting hundreds of signatures for the petition calling for the university to disinvest from companies involved in manufacturing weapons.

Thanks to everyone who came! More photos on the Facebook group.

Campaign meeting

2007-01-14T09:31:00.000Z

The first meeting of the Disarm UCL campaign will be held on Monday 15 January at 6pm in the open area (where the computers are) of the Clubs & Societies Centre on the second floor of the Bloomsbury Building, Gordon Street.

Everyone is welcome to attend, so please come along if you have ideas for the campaign, or would like to get more involved.

Campaign poster

2007-01-13T16:26:00.000Z

Please help to spread the word about UCL's arms investments, and get more people to join the petition by printing out our poster and getting it seen in places like departmental and halls of residence noticeboards, and anywhere else you can think.

Please poster responsibly!

Download the poster (PDF)

Professor Spyer interview

2007-01-10T10:06:00.000Z

Below is an article published in the Sepember 2006 issue of RUMS magazine The Bell with UCL's Professor Mike Spyer. Please note that the figures for the amount of shares for Cobham in this article are now out of date - the most recent figures we have from UCL are £845,530.

Guns of Bloomsbury
UCL Vice-Provost and Dean of RUMS Professor Spyer interviewed on UCL and the arms industry

Previously The Bell reported about UCL’s investment in the arms industry. UCL union voted in March 2006 to lobby for ethical investment. Currently, UCL has £54,000 worth of Cobham PLC shares and a stake in the London University Superannuation Agreements, which has £1million invested in BAE Systems. In addition to this, UCL runs an MSc with BAE Systems in Systems Engineering. When similar investments were exposed at SOAS, protests by students and teaching staff led to a public disinvestment. Edinburgh University, Leeds University and Oriel College Oxford are amongst other educational establishments to have adopted Socially Responsible Investment policies. Professor Spyer, UCL Vice-Provost and Dean of the medical school agreed to talk to the Bell on this issue.

How to you feel about UCL’s investments in the arms trade?
UCL has a clear investment policy regarding tobacco investment. [commensurate with] the ethical values of the institution. We are constantly reviewing our investments in accordance with these values. Companies with large multinational arrangements make a range of products and it is virtually impossibly to avoid arms involvement.

But BAE Systems specifically make weapons.
It may be that BAE Systems’ involvement with academics. [may act as a] good influence. Most certainly I don’t think there are any problems whatsoever.

Are you aware that there are ethical investment options which may produce comparable financial returns?
Many ethical policies prohibit investment in companies linked to animal testing and this is completely against what I believe in.

How would you feel if students on the MSc course that UCL runs with BAE Systems developed a new cluster bomb?
That would never occur here-

The UCL website advertises “a programme which combines academic rigour and practical experience in the Aerospace and Defence industry” which could hypothetically include weapons development.
I could give you a totally uneducated opinion on that but I don’t think it would be appropriate.

As a doctor, how do you feel about the South African government spending £3.9 billion on a deal with BAE Systems at a time when it was refusing to provide antiretrovirals for its 5million HIV positive citizens?
These are post-colonial times and I think it would be highly inappropriate for Britain to go telling sovereign countries how to spend their budgets. South Africa is an independent country which has to make decisions about its own security. If it believes it requires such defence spending to protect its own integrity it’s up to its government to decide. I would be unhappy if any country used its weapons to suppress its own peoples and I may personally believe it might be better to spend that money on HIV prevention.

BAE Systems and Cobham PLC supplied arms for the invasions of Iraq and Afganistan. Do you think UCL’s ties to these arms suppliers constitute a security risk?
Has British government’s invasion of Iraq made us less safe? My own feeling it that it has. But it’s not appropriate to link this to BAE Systems.

At one point it was allowed for UCL to invest in tobacco companies, but now this is banned. Do you accept that its stance on arms investment could change?
The tobacco decision was made on biomedical factors alone. it is possible that the arms investments may be revoked at some time in the future. I would like to add that if we go back in time, I don’t think I would want to or anyone would want to invest in companies that produced the gas chambers to kill 6 million people in World War two.

Would you choose to invest your own money in the arms industry?
Personally I would not choose to invest in the arms industry.

And also, below, The Bell's satirical comment, published in the same issue.

Comment by John Rambo, Medical Student:
If I want to fly to the U.S, I want to fly to the U.S. I don’t care if I have to wait ten hours, I spent five years in a Vietcong dungeon. Yeah, I’ve got Afghanistan on my passport (you may remember Rambo 3 when I joined forces with the Mujahadeen.), and what? It’s hard being a misunderstood Buddhist former fighting machine with post-traumatic stress disorder. The VC messed with my mind, so does Professor Spyer.

First he comes across as the voice of the establishment all “I don’t think there are any problems whatsoever”. No problems with fighting wars for oil and then acting blameless when your enemies retaliate? No problems with BAE Systems record of supplying arms for the East Timor genocide, the DRC genocide and Iraq invasion? No problems with BAE Systems rampant corruption, extreme even for the arms industry?

Just when you get him lined up in your sights, he wriggles out of each trap, coming on all “post-colonial” and even saying his answers would be “uneducated”. Then he turns 180 degrees by alluding to companies like IBM that assisted the Holocaust and being all “I would choose not to invest in the arms industry”. It’s not the hardest punch that floors you, it’s the one you don’t see coming. He turned my mind into a Moebius strip, the kind of logic Tony Blair has perfected. If I was there, I would have said, “Professor Spyer, John Rambo will treat you as a brother, as his own brother, until you give him reason otherwise, is this reason otherwise?”

If Professor Spyer was against arms investment, what could he do? As Vice-Provost and Sub-Dean does he have any say at all in the matter? If not, what does this say about who controls this University? How far has the influence of Britain’s only remaining manufacturing industry pervaded this institution, with its trumpeted links to Bentham’s Utilitarianism, and what will be the consequences?

DISARM by text

2007-01-09T11:21:00.000Z

It's now even easier to join the Disarm UCL petition! Thanks to the nice people at aql you can now join using you mobile phone by texting:

DISARM followed by a space and your FULL NAME to 64446

Texts are charged at your standard network rate, and it will be the best text you ever send, we promise!

Article in The Bell

2006-12-15T12:12:00.000Z

This is a link to the article that appeared in The Bell (RUMS medical student magazine) this summer - it refers to last year's campaign (and the significantly lower number of UCL shares) but is worth a look... (pg. 4)

http://www.rums.uclu.org/Bulletin/TheBellSummer2006.pdf

Facebook group

2006-12-13T22:33:00.000Z

Disarm UCL now has a Facebook group, join it to keep up to date with the campaign, and help spread the word by inviting your friends!

FAQs on Ethical Investment and the Arms Trade

2006-12-13T17:34:00.000Z

1. Why do universities such as UCL invest in arms companies?
There are several reasons why this occurs - they include (in no particular order):

Since 9/11 and the “war on terror” many arms company share prices have sharply risen as defence budgets have increased and new orders have come in. At the same time, universities find themselves strapped for cash due to the current funding crisis in education and so try to make money from investments to stay in the black.
Many elite, research-intensive universities in the UK receive large amounts of research funding from arms companies through contracts they carry out in their science, engineering and technology departments. They therefore want to retain good relations with these companies and perceive them as economic partners rather than merchants of war.
Investing in the arms trade is common practice for many universities (45 universities confirmed to Campaign Against Arms Trade that they invest in the arms trade) and so forms the economic status quo. Finance directors may feel it is therefore easier for to carry on as they are rather than making time-consuming changes.
There is often nothing preventing universities from investing in the arms trade. Without ethical investment policies expressly prohibiting such investments finance directors will see their fiduciary duty to maximize profits as their one and only concern.

2. Who is to say which companies are ethical and which aren't? Where do you draw the line?/ Ethical criteria are too tricky to define and apply to an investment policy, so what's the point?
A university's investment decisions rely upon the information and instructions that the finance director receives. Ethical concerns can form a part of this process as there are recognised frameworks for socially responsible investing- and for ascertaining institutional values. Directors of finance can be instructed to weigh ethical and financial considerations and the evidence from the size of the UK ethical investment market (£17bn screened + £280bn under 'engagement' instructions), and its positive performance shows that many do so successfully.

3. Do we really think that by getting one university to withdraw it's shares in a company that produces weapons that this will stop the arms trade? Someone else will buy them and nothing will have changed.
When a university or any other institution invests in a company it confers upon that company a credibility that would not otherwise have existed. Taken in isolation, one university divesting from the arms trade will have a small impact, but as more universities divest and are seen to be able to manage quite well with alternative investments the economic status quo will be brought into question and universities which continue to invest will be pressurised into justifying their continued association with arms companies. Furthermore, the debate which arises around divestment issues allows the culture of military influence on campus- through funding of research- to be broached.

4. The same people who argue against the university investments also want more money to pay lecturers and support staff with. Providing the best facilities for students requires income from sensible investments, so why not invest in a company that makes a profit? Doesn't it makes financial sense to invest in a company the government is throwing money at?
Whilst it is true that arms companies receive a unique subsidy of £890million from the UK government every year, the idea that universities should benefit from this seems absurd given the current funding crisis they face and the recent introduction of top-up fees. It would be far more prudent economically for the government to invest more money in universities directly, so that they don't have to rely upon market speculation for income.

5. Won't Socially Responsible Investment harm financial returns?
Ethical investment funds that preclude arms company shares are amongst the most profitable. In the past decade the Church of England’s £4.3 billion ethically-managed fund, for example, was the 2nd best performer of more than 1,000 funds.

6.Aren't Colleges and Universities, as charities, legally prohibited from investing ethically?
Trustees are obligated to pursue the best interests of the Charity – but this specifically does not exclude Ethical Investment. In fact, Charity Commission regulations (2001) state, ”trustees of a charity should decline to invest in a particular company if it carries out activities which are directly contrary to the charity's purposes.” Amongst other precedents from law and government recommendations, the Goode Committee on Pension Law Reform concluded “Trustees...are perfectly entitled to have a policy on ethical investment and pursue that policy.”

7. What alternative investment opportunities are available?
The ethical investment industry is well-established in the UK and offers a range of services for institutional investors. A good place to start would be Ethical Investment Research Services (EIRIS), who produce guides for investors and fund managers so that they can find the ethical policy which is right for them.

8. The Armed Forces need the best equipment and these companies provide it. What's wrong with supporting British industry and British jobs?
The seven UK-based arms companies which the Clean Investment Campaign focuses on are primarily arms exporting companies. When a contract for equipment for the UK armed forces comes up, it is often possible to buy cheaper (and arguably better) military equipment from abroad. However, government ministers often 'buy British', helping companies sell their equipment abroad. In July 2003, BAE Systems sources were reported as saying that export orders were 'a vital factor' in the recent decision by the government to buy BAE Systems Hawk jets. The Treasury had estimated that opening the bid to competition from other companies would save the UK tax-payer £1 billion. Choosing more expensive equipment in order to support exports is a direct subsidy to the arms trade. The MoD's own estimates show that 65,000 jobs are sustained by military exports, just 0.2% of the national labour force.

9. Could my tuition fees be invested in the arms trade?
It is possible that money from tuition fees could end up being invested in the stock market and thus in the arms trade. One scenario would be if there was a surplus from the tuition fees fund after the money for, for example, staff pay, the university estate and bursaries/scholarships had been allocated and the surplus funds were not ring-fenced. However, because every university manages its finances in a different way, with different operating costs, this could only be known for certain following access to an institution’s accounts.

Smiths Group / Cobham info

2006-12-13T17:33:00.000Z

Cobham http://www.caat.org.uk/publications/companies/cobham.php

Smiths Group http://www.caat.org.uk/publications/companies/smiths.php

CAAT freedom of information request to UCL / Provost Newsletter

2006-12-13T17:25:00.000Z

UCL - Unethical College, London and the Arms Trade

When calling for divestment and the adoption of an ethical investment policy at a university, it is firstly vital to know the nature of the university's investments and the way in which the university presents its investment policy. Once we understand a university's level of investment and its investment policy we can begin to analyse and then challenge the economic and moral assumptions they represent.

In the case of UCL we can look at two documents to provide us with crucial information on UCL's current position- these are their Freedom of Information Act response and the Provost's statement on arms investment in his weekly newsletter.

On 9th August 2006, Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) received a reply to their freedom of information act request regarding UCL's arms trade investments. The main points of information it contained are as follows: (NB. UCL's replies are in bold. Comments in red. CAAT enquired about 19 arms companies- included are the two which UCL confirmed they have shares in).

CAAT Freedom of Information request:

From: Mrs R.H. Cummings, Freedom of Information Officer

Please see below for UCL's response to your FOI Request:

1. Please state the value of the University's total investment assets.

£95,229,586 at 31 March 2006

2. Please state the number and value of shares that the University holds directly in each of the following companies as of 31st March 2006:

Cobham 449,750 shares, value £845,530

Smiths Group 75,900 shares, value £746,097

These direct shareholdings mean that UCL's total investment is £1,591,627 making it the largest known university investor in the UK. This amounts to 1.7% of its total investment assets.

3. Please state the number and value of shares that the University holds indirectly (e.g. in pooled funds) in the companies listed above, as of 31st March 2006.
Unable to identify the information we have.

If UCL invests in managed or pooled funds- which we can assume it does- then there is the possibility that some of the money in these funds will be invested in arms companies. So long as UCL prefers not to provide information on this subject- information which they can obtain from the fund managers- there will not be full transparency over their finances.

4. Please say whether you have an ethical investment policy and if so please attach a copy.
Yes: no direct investment in tobacco companies.

Please also see attached document, which is a Resolution from the UCL Council Minutes of 14 June 2006.
Mrs R.H. Cummings

UCL Council Minutes 14 June 2006- Minute 89 on "Ethical Investments".
The resolution states that:
"Resolved on the recommendation of Investments Committee - that UCL's investment policy not restrict investment in the defence industry; and that UCL therefore continue to invest, as and when recommended by UCL investment managers, in defence/arms manufacture companies, subject to the investment managers submitting regular reports to Council, via the Investments Committee, to provide assurances that such companies were operating to appropriate ethical criteria."

From this information it is clear that UCL regards tobacco companies as ethically unacceptable and the defence industry as ethically acceptable in terms of investments. For a further exploration of why this is the case, we can turn to the Provost's statement on arms investments in his November newsletter.

The Provost's Newsletter - Arms investment:

I have had a query from a member of staff in response to a recent press statement from a group calling themselves the Campaign Against Arms Trade, which maintains that UCL currently has investments of £1.591 million in the arms trade. Our investment advisers have now advised me on the actual position. UCL presently holds shares in two companies in the aerospace and defence sector: Cobham, and Smiths Group. None of the other stocks identified by CAAT are held by UCL, and indeed several are not even in the aerospace and defence sector. Both Cobham and Smiths are engaged in wide-ranging engineering and manufacturing activity that includes military-related activity. This is not the same thing as arms trade activity: indeed, much of their activity relates to the UK’s own civil and military defence.

As you would expect, UCL takes seriously its ethical responsibilities in investment and takes regular advice on this front. There have been lively debates on the legal framework and principles of ethical investment both on Finance Committee and on the UCL Council over the last year, as a result of which our Investments Sub-Committee now relies upon independent advice from the Ethical Research Investment Service ("EIRiS"). Their advice is that Cobham and Smiths Group are ethically acceptable investments. Both companies clearly have involvement with the supply of strategic parts of weapons systems, but neither manufactures entire weapons systems themselves, and Smiths has a major role in improving civilian security. EIRiS will continue to screen and advise on UCL investments.

So, UCL's line is that Cobham and Smiths are ok to invest in because they engage in civil production, much of which benefits the UK's 'national interest'. To see whether this argument is justifiable and truly representative of these companies, we can examine what their military output is, who they sell it to and how much money they make from it.

Cobham is a multi-national group of companies that is heavily involved in a number of major military aircraft programmes including Eurofighter, the US Joint Strike Fighter and BAE Systems’ Hawk jet. It produces avionics, aircraft and missile components and provides military training and communication equipment. Cobham's flight refuelling equipment facilitated long-range bombing during the Falklands war, the Gulf war, and recent operations in Afghanistan (Cobham plc website). In 2002 Cobham's total military sales were £360million, constituting 49% of their total sales.

Smiths is a wide-ranging group with Aerospace, Medical, Sealing Solutions and Industrial businesses. Though a UK-based company, nearly 50% of its production is in the US, with 29% in the UK, 15% in the rest of Europe and 7% elsewhere. Through its Aerospace business, Smiths is a first-tier supplier to UK and US aircraft and engine manufacturers. Gun pods for Hawk jets, gun-turret actuators for Apache attack helicopters and cockpit control panels for the B-2 bomber, F-16 fighter and the A-10A 'tank-buster' provide a few examples of their products.
In 2002, Smiths received unwelcome attention amid the growing concern over Israeli activities in the Occupied Territories - it was reported by the Guardian that missile trigger systems made by Smiths Group were used in US-made Apache attack helicopters supplied to Israel. However, such revelations are rare - not because Smiths' equipment is not being used by oppressive regimes or in regions of conflict or tension, but because we generally hear only about the company that markets the complete weapons system. Smiths' military involvement is far less widely known than its size merits- its total military sales in 2004 were $1.2bnconstituting 25% of total sales.

With regards to the 'ethical acceptability' of these companies, EIRIS does not make decisions as to whether companies are ethically acceptable or otherwise. Their role, as a company paid by UCL, is to conduct research on companies and provide reports detailing those companies production and behaviour. It is then up to the client i.e. UCL to make a decision from the information provided as to whether a company is 'ethically acceptable.' As such, EIRIS recently wrote to UCL highlighting this 'inaccurate and misleading' element of the Provost's statement.

Disarm UCL

2006-12-07T18:22:00.004Z

Disarm UCL is a campaign which has widespread support among UCL students, staff and alumni. UCL Student Union fully supports the campaign.

It aims to get UCL to divest its shares in arms company Cobham plc, which profits significantly from the sale of military components. Cobham plc is the world's 46th largest arms producer by military revenue. UCL as a major university sets an important precedent for the whole sector. Its claim to be a 'global' university with a tradition of liberal ideals and social justice is undermined by its direct support of the 'global' arms trade.

The campaign has already been successful in achieving an ethical investment (ei) policy for UCL.

On 1 January 2009 UCL adopted its ethical investment policy.

Click here for the full text of the policy and to read about the ei review committee.

Members of the campaign have now oficially requested the review committee to divest from arms trader Cobham. Click here to read the letter.

Disarm UCL has put forward a policy proposal for ethical investment at UCL. Download the proposal here.

UCL alumni have been at the forefront of the campaign. Many have written to Provost Malcolm Grant informing him that they will not support UCL financially or otherwise as long as the investment in arms trader Cobham plc continues. More about the Disarm UCL alumni network here.

Please support the campaign and call on UCL to ditch the arms shares NOW !

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The Disarm UCL campaign has featured prominently in the international and national media:

The International Herald Tribune on Disarm UCL

The Guardian on "The Gower Street Gunrunners"

The New Statesman on "A global university without a global conscience"

For further information on the campaign and how to get involved please contatct us: info@disarmucl.com

Hello

2006-12-04T21:25:00.001Z

Hello!

Welcome to the website for Disarm UCL - the campaign for UCL to disinvest from the arms trade. There'll be more information on the campaign available here soon!

In the meantime, click here to find out about UCL's investments in the arms trade.