Earth Week 2016: UO Marries Big Oil
By Envision Magazine on April 29, 2016
A wedding happened on the University of Oregon campus on April 21st, 2016, and the entire community was invited– but this wasn’t a typical matrimonial union.
At least 75 people came to the Erb Memorial Union amphitheater to watch the “wedding” between the bride, “Big Oil”, and the groom, the “University of Oregon Foundation”, at 12 p.m. The political theater show was sponsored by Divest UO, a campaign through the UO’s Climate Justice League organization. The purpose of the wedding ceremony was to critique the UO Foundation’s investments in fossil fuel extraction companies. Although the foundation is a not-for-profit corporation that’s separate from the UO, it’s connected to the university because of the donations it receives from donors and alumni members, which go to things such as student scholarships and academic programs.
As horns and trumpets were playing, the bridesmaids, with their faces covered by cut-out paper representing burning coal, and groomsmen walked down the aisle arm-in-arm. After they took their places on the amphitheater stage, the bride and groom then walked down the aisle, with the bride in a puffy, sequined white dress and face mask made of cut-out paper smokestacks, and the groom in a black tuxedo and a duck head mask.
Soon afterward, the officiant of the wedding, played by a member of Divest UO, began his opening remarks. Shortly after, he asked the crowd if anyone had any objections toward the marriage between the UO Foundation and fossil fuels. A few people stood up, microphones in hand, to express their feelings.
“This is a university, where we come to learn and prepare for our future,” one student said. “How dare you destroy the chance of us even having a future with your selfish actions,” which was followed by cheers and clapping from the audience.
Another student, Divest UO member Roslyn Braun, also objected to the marriage.
“I object on behalf of all of the kids too young to know the consequences of your actions,” Braun said to the bride and groom. “This marriage is not about love.”
After the objections, one of the groomsmen took to a microphone to express the UO Foundation’s side of the story.
“This marriage is not for any social cause, it’s about one body marrying another to maximize returns in a beautiful way,” the groomsman said as the audience laughed. This response was in reference to a meeting with the UO Foundation’s Chief Investment Officer Jay Namyet in April 2015, which accumulated in a series of emails by Namyet and some Divest UO members. During parts of the groomsman’s speech, a sign was held up by the other groomsman that said “UO ‘Direct Quote’”.
The officiant continued the ceremony by saying the bride’s and groom’s vows. When the bride agreed and the audience started to boo and chant “UO Foundation destroys this nation”, the groom ran away, leaving his fossil fuel bride behind.
The ceremony concluded after 15 minutes, and the first groomsman took the stage again to announce that after performing a sit-in protest in Johnson Hall for nine-and-a-half weeks, the sit-in would come to a tentative end. He also announced that Divest UO would be starting its own national divest fund, which would let potential donors donate money to the UO Foundation; however, the foundation wouldn’t receive that money until it officially stated that it would divest from fossil fuel companies, and if the foundation didn’t agree to divest by December 2017, the money would go toward participating universities’ scholarship funds that have already pledged to cut ties with fossil fuel companies.
Braun suggests that if anyone is interested in participating in Divest UO, they should check out their social media sites on platforms like Facebook and to also view the campaign’s website. The Climate Justice League and Divest UO meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays in Anstett 191.
Check out the UO Climate Justice League’s Divest UO website here: http://climatejusticeleague.weebly.com/divest-uo.html
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DivestUO/?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DivestUO