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Statement opposing Macalester's Fossil Fuel Investments

Macalester College has millions invested in the fossil fuel industry, something that the entire team at Easy EMDR strongly condemns.

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BLOG POST Statment Opposing Macalester College's Fossil Fuel Investments

The current employees of Easy EMDR Inc. wish to jointly make the following public statement regarding Macalester College and its financial investments:

At Easy EMDR we believe words are meaningful and truth is valuable. We are a company created by Macalester students and supported by many of the amazing faculty and staff who work there, as well as by generous contributions from the Macalester alumni community. Since the beginning of Easy EMDR, we have sought to make a positive social impact through both our products and charitable commitments. Such considerations resulted in Easy EMDR becoming the 2nd company in the United States to take the Giving What We Can pledge to donate 10 percent of all future profits to effective charities as part of our effort to advocate for a more equitable global community.

Macalester's Fossil Fuel Problem

In order to achieve our aim, we feel it is important to draw attention to the damage Macalester is causing with their financial investments to vulnerable communities both around the world and in Minnesota. This damage is rooted in Macalester’s inability to live out its own stated values. In its mission statement, Macalester College claims to be dedicated to multiculturalism and service to society. They state, “We are committed to helping students grow intellectually and personally within an environment that models and promotes academic excellence and ethical behavior. Students should be prepared to take responsibility for their personal, social, and intellectual choices.”

Despite the above statement of purpose and belief, Macalester has directly invested over 50 million dollars into the Oil and Gas Industry throughout the world. The school claims to value global citizenship but they refuse to take action or recognize their role in degrading the environment for future generations of students, employees, and broader society. The presence of pipeline construction in Minnesota is directly correlated with increases in Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The trauma caused by the rape, murder, and sex trafficking of Native women is not an isolated phenomenon. As an organization whose goal is to help reduce the harm of trauma, we denounce any project that leads to such violence, and by extension denounce Macalester’s support for these projects. Herein lies the central problem: the College purports to encourage “ethical behavior,” while actively funding trauma-inflicting projects such as Enbridge’s Line 3 Oil Pipeline.

The administration persists in their financial support of such projects in direct opposition to the values upheld by the student population. When surveyed, 96 percent of student respondents supported divestment from the fossil fuel industry. We call on Macalester College to honor the stolen land on which it sits, the people from whom the land was stolen, and our shared planet by aligning their actions with their words and divesting completely from Enbridge and Line 3.

What Can Be Done About This?

This will require ethical courage on the behalf of certain members of Macalester’s leadership. Traditionally, Macalester’s leadership has delayed action on this issue at every opportunity, something that cannot be continued as the climate emergency continues to escalate. In particular, we believe the time has come for Jerry Crawford, Chair of the Board of Trustees and Dr. Suzanne Rivera, President of Macalester College to follow the ethical wisdom of their students and endorse the aim of untangling Macalester’s assets from projects that pollute our planet and harm our communities.

Further, neither Easy EMDR, nor any of its current employees, will ever donate a single cent to Macalester College in cash or kind until they issue an unambiguous commitment to fully divest from the fossil fuel industry, and to acknowledge the trauma inflicted by such investments on vulnerable communities, particularly Indigenous populations.

Finally, we voice our support for the assembly of students and community members taking place on the grounds of Macalester College on March 5, 2021. We believe their purpose is just and the Board of Trustees should commit to end all funding for the Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline and all similar contributions to the fossil fuel industry.

In Solidarity,
Liam Magistad, ‘19; Mathew Stoner, ‘20; and Zachary Jordan, ‘21, CEO of Easy EMDR

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