This professor deserves some kind of award for common sense. It’s a shame we don’t hear of this happening more often.The Blaze reports:
Students: We demand the school sell its stock in fossil fuels. Professor: I can’t do that, but I’ll turn off the gas heating for you.A professor at St. John’s College, Oxford University, just taught student protesters an invaluable lesson in personal sacrifice.According to the school newspaper, Oxford students have been occupying St. John’s College since Wednesday in protest of the school’s investments in fossil fuels. Dozens of students have reportedly set up camp in the front quad with signs and banners, vowing to remain until their demands are met.Amid the protesting, professor Andrew Parker, also a manager of the school’s financial affairs, received a letter from two students requesting a meeting to discuss their demands — including the school’s divestment from fossil fuels. His speedy response was almost certainly not what they were expecting.Here’s the story from the Times of London:
Two students at St John’s College wrote to Andrew Parker, the principal bursar, this week requesting a meeting to discuss the protesters’ demands, which are that the college “declares a climate emergency and immediately divests from fossil fuels.” They say that the college, the richest in Oxford, has £8 million of its £551 million endowment fund invested in BP and Shell.Professor Parker responded with a provocative offer. “I am not able to arrange any divestment at short notice,” he wrote. “But I can arrange for the gas central heating in college to be switched off with immediate effect. Please let me know if you support this proposal.”
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