MIT Divestment
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Meg Vaillancourt reports on the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Endowment for Divestiture, created by MIT faculty and alumni who oppose the university’s continued investment in South Africa. Vaillancourt’s report includes footage from a press conference with Mel King (MIT Professor and community activist), Phil Katz (MIT) and John Correia (MIT). Vaillancourt reports that the Endowment for Divestiture will be turned over to the MIT general fund when the university has divested completely from South Africa. Vaillancourt notes that the university has partially divested from South Africa. Vaillancourt’s report includes footage of John Parsons (Trustee for the Endowment for Divestment) saying that the alternative endowment will be soundly invested in companies not doing business in South Africa. Vaillancourt’s report also features footage of workers and laborers in South Africa.
1:00:05: Visual: Footage of Mel King (professor, MIT, and community activist) and other MIT faculty and alumni at a press conference. King says that investment by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in companies linked with South Africa is a "moral disgrace." Vaillancourt reports that MIT faculty and alumni have created an MIT Endowment for Divestiture; that the endowment is an alternative investment fund for alumni who are opposed to investing in South Africa. V: Shots of MIT faculty and alumni at the press conference. Footage of Phil Katz (MIT) saying that the endowment will be withheld from the administration until the MIT portfolio is free from investments linked to South Africa. Katz says that the funds will be turned over to the MIT general fund when the institute has divested from South Africa. Footage of John Corriea (MIT) saying that the faculty has voted three to one in favor of divestment; that student referenda have favored divestment; that the alumni want to send a message to the administration about the need to divest. Shots of students entering Building 7 on the MIT campus; of molten metal being poured into a cast; of workers doing manual labor; of the floor of a stock exchange; of two African American women in a retail store. Vaillancourt reports that the MIT Corporation has announced that it will only invest in companies that are actively seeking to end apartheid; that MIT holds stock worth $150 million in US companies doing business in South Africa. Vaillancourt reports that critics of divestment say that MIT would lose money if it changed its policy. V: Footage of John Parsons (Trustee for the Endowment for Divestment) saying that the money in the Endowment for Divestiture will be soundly invested in companies that do not do business in South Africa; that the Endowment for Divestiture will do a small part in reducing the might of the apartheid government. Shots of coal refinery; of workers leaving a factory after a shift. Vaillancourt stands on the MIT campus. Vaillancourt reports that if MIT does not divest by 1994, the money from the Endowment for Divestiture will go to Amnesty International and the United Negro College Fund. Vaillancourt notes that the money will be invested in the Calvert Fund, which has no investments in South Africa.
1:00:05: Visual: Footage of Mel King (professor, MIT, and community activist) and other MIT faculty and alumni at a press conference. King says that investment by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in companies linked with South Africa is a "moral disgrace." Vaillancourt reports that MIT faculty and alumni have created an MIT Endowment for Divestiture; that the endowment is an alternative investment fund for alumni who are opposed to investing in South Africa. V: Shots of MIT faculty and alumni at the press conference. Footage of Phil Katz (MIT) saying that the endowment will be withheld from the administration until the MIT portfolio is free from investments linked to South Africa. Katz says that the funds will be turned over to the MIT general fund when the institute has divested from South Africa. Footage of John Corriea (MIT) saying that the faculty has voted three to one in favor of divestment; that student referenda have favored divestment; that the alumni want to send a message to the administration about the need to divest. Shots of students entering Building 7 on the MIT campus; of molten metal being poured into a cast; of workers doing manual labor; of the floor of a stock exchange; of two African American women in a retail store. Vaillancourt reports that the MIT Corporation has announced that it will only invest in companies that are actively seeking to end apartheid; that MIT holds stock worth $150 million in US companies doing business in South Africa. Vaillancourt reports that critics of divestment say that MIT would lose money if it changed its policy. V: Footage of John Parsons (Trustee for the Endowment for Divestment) saying that the money in the Endowment for Divestiture will be soundly invested in companies that do not do business in South Africa; that the Endowment for Divestiture will do a small part in reducing the might of the apartheid government. Shots of coal refinery; of workers leaving a factory after a shift. Vaillancourt stands on the MIT campus. Vaillancourt reports that if MIT does not divest by 1994, the money from the Endowment for Divestiture will go to Amnesty International and the United Negro College Fund. Vaillancourt notes that the money will be invested in the Calvert Fund, which has no investments in South Africa.
