Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 48.98
Liaison Kevin Miller
Submission Date Feb. 3, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Goshen College
PA-13: Committee on Investor Responsibility

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.00 / 2.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have a formally established and active committee on investor responsibility (CIR) or similar body that has multi-stakeholder representation (i.e. includes faculty, staff, and students) and otherwise meets the criteria for this credit?:
No
+ Date Revised: Sept. 1, 2015

The charter or mission statement of the CIR or other body which reflects social and environmental concerns or a brief description of how the CIR is tasked to address social and environmental concerns:

Mennonite Education Agency Investment Fund LLC: Provides a perpetual source of support (within the parameters of socially responsible investing) to the endowed and scholarship programs of Mennonite Church USA institutions.


Members of the CIR, including affiliations and role (e.g. student, faculty, alumni):

Phil Rich, Chair
Barry Bartel,
Tom Bishop,
Lowell Herr,
James Histand, Goshen College
Allon Lefever,
John Liechty,
Bart Miller,
Linwood Rush


Examples of CIR actions during the previous three years:

MEA Investment Fund
Shareholder Advocacy Report – Q2 & Q3 2013

Advocacy Priorities

Environmental Sustainability

Safe Chemicals Policy Wal-Mart
Sept. ‘13 Wal-Mart announces it will require companies to reduce or eliminate a priority list of 10 hazardous chemicals from personal care products, cosmetics and cleaning products sold in its stores; this is a major step forward and something investors have encouraged the company to do for over five years

Safe Chemicals Policy Target
May ‘13 Sent investor letter to the company asking it to phase out potentially toxic chemicals in products it sells that the government has not restricted

Safe Chemicals Policy Kroger
May ‘13 Sent investor letter to the company asking it to phase out potentially toxic chemicals in products it sells that the government has not restricted

Sustainability Reporting/Climate Change Emerson Electric
Aug. ‘13 Co-filed resolution asking for the company to create a sustainability report; of particular concern is Emerson’s high emission levels of air pollutants

Modern Slavery Forced and Child Labor in Cocoa Supply Chain Hershey
Apr. ‘13 Meeting with management in Hershey; benchmarks for the company’s 100% certified cocoa commitment by 2020 are discussed, and updates given on other initiatives such as Hershey’s Learn to Grow and CocoaLink programs

Conflict Minerals
Apr. ‘13 Signed on to statement with more than 50 other sustainable, socially responsible, and faith-based investment groups expressing support for the SEC’s final rule for Conflict Mineral Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act

Responsibility Issues
Financing of Cluster Munitions Major US and International Banks
July ‘13 Participated in letter to nine major banks encouraging the banks to establish a policy regarding the financing of cluster munitions and landmines.


The website URL where information about the CIR is available:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Goshen College participates in the Mennonite Education Agency Investment Fund (MEA), which is a pooled endowment fund of Mennonite higher education schools and seminaries. The endowment fund is fully screened and managed within the parameters of socially responsible investing guidelines developed by Everence Financial Services, a leader in the SRI investing world. MEA, and thus Goshen College, has adopted Everence's ethical criteria for investment. Therefore, some answers and documents listed here describing our investment policies may come directly from the Everence website, but also reflect our views and policies on investment.


Goshen College participates in the Mennonite Education Agency Investment Fund (MEA), which is a pooled endowment fund of Mennonite higher education schools and seminaries. The endowment fund is fully screened and managed within the parameters of socially responsible investing guidelines developed by Everence Financial Services, a leader in the SRI investing world. MEA, and thus Goshen College, has adopted Everence's ethical criteria for investment. Therefore, some answers and documents listed here describing our investment policies may come directly from the Everence website, but also reflect our views and policies on investment.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.