Hopefully you will consider having your ES program lead the way in getting
the Graduation Pledge going at your school--it can start small and build
over the years. The project has been incorporated into some classes. Let me
know if someone starts to work on, as we try to stay in contact with
schools involved. The other project below is not as directly related to ES,
but does include an attempt to get TIAA-CREF to invest in environmentally
(and socially) responsible ways. Had to sneak that one in! Your support on
that one and getting out word to your colleagues at your school and
elsewhere is much appreciated. Neil
 ======================================================================================

Neil Wollman, Senior Fellow, Peace Studies Institute; Professor of
Psychology; Manchester College, N. Manchester, IN 46962; 260-982-5346; fax
260-982-5043; [log in to unmask]
 ======================================================================================


                                    GRADUATION PLEDGE ALLIANCE

Humboldt State University (California) initiated the  Graduation Pledge of
Social and Environmental Responsibility. It states, "I pledge to explore
and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job
I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for
which I work."  Students define what being "responsible" means to
themselves. Students at over a hundred colleges and universities have used
the pledge  at some level, at schools which range in size from Whitman, to
Harvard, to University of Wisconsin. This now includes some schools
overseas, graduate and professional schools, and high schools. Graduates
who voluntarily signed the pledge have turned down jobs they did not feel
morally comfortable with and have worked to make changes once on the job.
For example, they have promoted recycling at their organization, removed
racist language from a training manual, worked for gender parity in high
school athletics, and helped to convince an employer to refuse a chemical
weapons-related contract.

Manchester College now coordinates the campaign effort, which has taken
different forms at different institutions. At Manchester, it is a
community-wide event involving students, faculty, and staff. Typically,
fifty percent of students sign and keep a wallet-size card stating the
pledge, while students and supportive faculty wear green ribbons at
commencement and the pledge is printed in the formal commencement program.
Depending upon the school, it might take several years to reach this level
of institutionalization.  If one can just get a few groups/departments
involved, and get some media attention on (and off) campus, it will get
others interested and build for the future. The project has been covered in
newspapers around the country(e.g., USA Today,Chicago Tribune, Washington
Post, and Boston Globe), as well as being covered in magazines, national
radio networks, and local T.V. stations.

The pledge helps educate and motivate one to contribute to a better world.
Think of the impact if even a significant minority of the one million
college graduates each year signed and carried out the Pledge.

PLEASE KEEP US INFORMED OF ANY PLEDGE EFFORTS YOU UNDERTAKE, AS WE TRY TO
MONITOR WHAT IS HAPPENING, AND PROVIDE PERIODIC UPDATES ON THE NATIONAL
EFFORT. Contact  [log in to unmask] for
information/questions/comments; or write GPA, MC Box 135, Manchester
College, 604 E. College Ave., North Manchester, IN  46962. The Campaign
also has a web site, at
http://www.manchester.edu/academic/programs/departments/peace_studies/files/gpa.html

-----==================================================================================================


SPEND 10 MINUTES TO HELP CREATE SOCIAL CHANGE : SUPPORT PROPOSED NEW
TIAA-CREF RETIREMENT FUND.

Back in the 80s, a national group of professors and staff lobbied TIAA-CREF
(TC) for five years before it set up a socially responsible fund. Now we've
lobbied again to improve that fund so that it would not only avoid certain
companies, but would invest in particularly responsible ones
environmentally and socially, and in low-income area housing/business--and
do shareholder advocacy, as well. This is becoming more standard in
socially responsible investing and is quite viable financially. Besides
academic and activist group endorsements, (like the National Women's
Studies Association and United for a Fair Economy), we're supported by
Benjamin Barber, Dennis Brutus, Noam Chomsky, Sandi Cooper, Ursula
Goodenough, and Howard Zinn.

TC's CEO has publicly stated (NY Times) that he would support setting up a
new fund that moves us in the right direction, but it requires your
commitment to transfer some of your current TC assets to the new fund,
should it be established. You need not commit additional money now into the
shaky stock market--only shift what you already have invested. And the
companies in which we propose to invest are less likely to experience the
economic woes caused by Enron-type fraud. As of September, over 450
individuals have pledged over $13 million! But we have a long way to go.
Please visit
http://www.manchester.edu/academic/programs/departments/peace_studies/fund/

to learn more about the proposed new fund and committing toward it.

Please forward this message to those at your institution and elsewhere--and
to listservs/organizations if you can--with a short personal endorsement or
noting your own commitment. To reach the $25 million requirement set by the
CEO of TC, your help is needed. Given their prominence, if TC makes this
move, others will likely follow, creating further benefit overall! To
receive campaign updates every two weeks or if you have problems with the
web site, PLEASE let me know. Thanks, Neil

PS: As you may have read in TC's August Participant magazine, they made a
positive change in our direction in their current socially responsible
fund--but much is still lacking.
 ======================================================================================

Neil Wollman/Ph.D./Peace Studies/Psychology/Manchester College/
[log in to unmask]