March 3, 1993
Students at Tufts University, in Medford, Massachussetts, have
called on the Trustees of Tufts College to divest the University's
holdings from Hydro-Quebec. This call was formally issued by the
student senate on February 14, after years of research and
discussion by concerned members of the Tufts community. All
individuals who are moved by the serious environmental and
cultural damage associated with the James Bay Projects are
invited to assist in the effort to divest Tufts from Hydro-Quebec
by expressing your support to the address below.
Tufts University, outside of Boston, is home to 4,500
undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students, as well as schools of
law and diplomacy, medicine, veterinary medicine, and nutrition.
Tufts has gained an international reputation for environmental
research at all levels, including the Center for Environmental
Management and one of the first undergraduate Environmental
Studies programs in the nation. Additionally, Tufts' Investment
Policy calls for consideration of the environmental and social
impacts of corporations receiving Tufts investments.
Students at Tufts were moved to make this call as a result of the
severe damage resulting from Hydro-Quebec's massive projects in
the James Bay area of Quebec. The damage from Phase I of the
projects, nearly completed, has included the flooding of 4,400
square miles of productive land, release of methyl mercury,
displacement of native peoples, and application of severe external
pressure on native cultures.
The Trustees of Tufts College met on Saturday, February 27, and
postponed any decision on the matter pending further examination
of the issue. Students are now calling for letters from concerned
individuals supporting the call for divestment. Please support
this effort, as the very survival of a sensitive bioregion and
native culture hangs in the balance.
Paper letters should be addressed to:
Trustees of Tufts College
c/o PO Box 11
Tufts University Post Office
Medford, MA 02153
E-Mail Letters should be addressed to:
ECOGREEN@pearl.tufts.edu
[ This article originally contained at the end a note talking about
further information which is available and how to obtain it. I will
make contact myself, and will place the electronic document(s) into
the NATIVE-L filelist, posting instructions on how to obtain them and
other documents once I have done so. --Gary ]