This section examines the endowment investments and investment policies of the top 10 universities in Scotland.[1] Our findings suggest that there is widespread recognition within the Scottish higher education sector that investing in nuclear weapons is not socially responsible.
Of the 10 institutions that we researched, we found only two that hold direct investments in nuclear weapons producers. The University of Glasgow held shares worth £1.9 million in 16 nuclear weapons companies as at 30 September 2020, while the University of Strathclyde held shares worth £473,633 in two companies.
At least six universities have policies that either explicitly (Aberdeen and Edinburgh) or implicitly (St Andrews, Dundee, Stirling and West of Scotland) restrict investment in nuclear weapons producers. Some of these policies are not comprehensive and in some instances we have been unable to verify how the policies are being applied.
Nevertheless, it is clear that the University of Glasgow and the University of Strathclyde are outliers when it comes to nuclear weapons investments in the Scottish higher education sector.
Action
Past campaigns have demonstrated that sustained student activism can persuade a university to change its arms industry investment policy (see section 5.1 on Edinburgh and section 5.4 on St Andrews). If you are a student at either the University of Glasgow or the University of Strathclyde, we encourage you to take action in support of divestment. An energetic campaign is already underway at the University of Glasgow (see section 5.2).
If you are a student at an institution that is not covered in this section, you can do some research to find out whether your place of study has a policy relating to nuclear weapons producers and whether it invests in them. People and Planet publishes an ethical scorecard for each UK university which may contain information about your institution’s investments and investment policy.[2]
Once you know where the university is investing its money, you can contact the university’s principal as in individual or organise with like-minded students to push for divestment.[3] You can also get involved with the CAAT Universities Network, which aims to highlight and dismantle the financial and business links between universities and the arms trade. These include the investments that universities make in arms companies, but also the funding that arms companies provide for courses and research. Email: scotland@caat.org.uk.
NOTES
[1] As listed in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2019: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2019/world-ranking#!/page/0/length/-1/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats.
[2] https://peopleandplanet.org/university-league.
[3] CAAT Universities has some useful resources: https://caatunis.net/campaigns/clean-investment/.
Don't Bank on the Bomb Scotland 