A student group at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is hoping to make a difference in a war-torn country 7,409 miles away.
In 2006, senior political science major Sarah Beringer and junior international studies major Stephanie Sutton contacted Sudan Divestment Task Force and decided to found Divest Nebraska. The group focuses on diverting money that funds the genocide in Darfur away from Sudan, Beringer said.
“We’ve talked to a lot of Nebraskans,” she said. “Most feel that it is a moral imperative to disassociate ourselves financially. The general response we are getting is that Nebraskans do not want to be invested in genocide.”
In 2007, Divest Nebraska worked with former state Sen. Ernie Chambers to introduce legislation banning investment of public money in companies that do business with Sudan.
After that bill failed, they asked Sen. Bill Avery of Lincoln to bring back the subject in 2008.
Now, in 2009, Avery is once again pushing divestment from Sudan in LB140.
“Twenty-seven states have adopted divestment policies from Sudan,” Beringer said. “The potential financial impacts of the bill should be relatively low based on the positive experiences of these states.”
This new bill is slightly different from its predecessors, Sutton said. One of the changes was to streamline the process for the Nebraska Investment Council so they can easily determine which companies they could not fund under the bill.
This was a major concern for the council in the past, Sutton said, so she was under the impression that with the changes NIC would support LB140.
Instead, they testified in the neutral position at the committee hearing for the bill on March 4.
David Bomberger, former state investment officer, said the bill goes against the purpose of the council because it prohibits investment based on moral standards.
Also, restricting investment in certain companies could take extra time and resources and might even require the council to hire another person to alleviate the load, he said.
“We were a bit disheartened by his testimony, although we expected him to do as such,” Sutton said. “We thought the changes we had made would alleviate the burden on the Nebraska Investment Council.”
Divest Nebraska is confident about the future of LB140 and wants to work with NIC to make divestment a reality.
“We feel this is an important issue for Nebraska,” Sutton said. “We have been happy with the dialogue held between Divest Nebraska and the Nebraska Investment Council, and we look forward to working closely with them in the future to achieve the success of Sudan divestment.”
jennagibson@dailynebraskan.com
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