Columbia University’s board of trustees voted this week to divest of its investments in private prison companies and became the first university to do so following a nearly year-and-a-half long student campaign calling on the school to separate itself from the controversial industry.
“We are pleased to announce that after 16 months of research, protest, presentations and countless hours of organizing, the organizers of the Columbia Prison Divest campaign have just been notified of the Columbia University Board of Trustees’ decision to #DIVEST from the private prison industry and to institute a policy banning reinvestment in companies that operate prisons,” the group posted on its Facebook page.
The group’s short description for its raison d’tre is simple: “Because an institution that claims concern for the future should not invest in racist and classist systems of incarceration and detention.”
