mshm344 Proxy Committee Records, 1973-1996 Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Patricia J. Albright. Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections
South Hadley, MA
© 2007

Mount Holyoke College. All rights reserved.

 Finding aid encoded in NoteTab Pro. Encoded by Julie A. Singley. 2007-08-09 Finding aid written in English Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections Proxy Committee Records, 1973-1996 Finding Aid RG 3.3.15 Patricia J. Albright July 2007

© 2007 Mount Holyoke College. All rights reserved.

 Collection Overview Mount Holyoke College. Board of Trustees. Proxy Committee Proxy Committee Records 1973-1996 RG 3.3.15 LD 7082 A1 14 boxes (5.41 linear ft.) English Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections
South Hadley, MA
Records of the Proxy Committee, established in 1974 to monitor the investments of Mount Holyoke College, date from 1973-1996 and consist of minutes and agenda, reports, correspondence, questionnaires, notes, statements, resolutions, articles, publications, proxy voting records, and records of the faculty advisory Committee on Social Responsibility. Most of these materials concern the College's investments in South Africa. Historical Note

The Proxy Committee was established in 1974 as a sub-committee of the Board of Trustees Finance Committee. The purpose of the committee was to monitor the investments of Mount Holyoke College and inform the Finance Committee of actions by corporations in which the College was a share holder that did not comply with socially responsible practices. Much of the focus of the committee's work through the mid-1980s concerned the question of whether the College should divest itself of investments in companies doing business in South Africa or with the South African government, which the Board of Trustees voted to do in November, 1985 to protest that country's apartheid system. Other issues considered by the committee include corporate policies affecting the health of workers and the environment.

 Scope and Contents of the Collection

The records of the Proxy Committee date from 1973-1996 and concern the investments of Mount Holyoke College, particularly those in South Africa. Proxy Committee records also contain minutes, agenda, correspondence, and other documents generated by the Mount Holyoke faculty advisory Committee on Social Responsibility, which favored divestiture of investments in South Africa because of that country's apartheid system. Materials are arranged in three series: Meeting Binders, Subject Files, and Divestiture Materials; Correspondence, Committee on Social Responsibility Materials, Background Materials, and Reports; and Meeting Notebooks and Chronological Files. Meeting Binders, Subject Files, and Divestiture Materials (1973-1992) consist of minutes and agenda, reports, correspondence, questionnaires, notes, statements, resolutions, articles, and publications. These documents also include copies of a paper by a Mount Holyoke College student, Carol Ann Drogus entitled An Analysis of Divestiture. Correspondence, Committee on Social Responsibility Materials, Background Materials, and Reports (1981-1994) were used by the Committee to prepare recommendations concerning the College's investments. Many of these reports were published by the Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC). There are also two Sullivan Reports (1984, 1985) that discuss policies of corporations with regard to the fair and equal treatment of all employees. Meeting Notebooks and Chronological Files (1973-1996) contain minutes and agenda, reports, correspondence, questionnaires, statements, shareholder proposals, notes, proxy voting records, publications, and newspaper and magazine articles. These materials include minutes and reports of the Committee on Social Responsibility for 1978-1990, reports by the IRRC, and materials relating to the Sullivan and the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) investment principles.

 Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into three series:

Meeting Binders, Subject Files, and Divestiture Materials (1973-1992) Correspondence, Committee on Social Responsibility Materials, Background Materials, and Reports (1981-1994) Meeting Binders and Chronological Files (1973-1996) Information on Use Terms of Access and Use

Records restricted to use by the Board of Trustees for 50 years from date of record creation.

Use of the collection is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).

 Preferred Citation

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

Mount Holyoke College. Board of Trustees. Proxy Committee Records, Archives and Special Collections, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts, USA.

 History of the Collection

Processed by Patricia J. Albright, 2007. Peter Carini and Juliana Kuipers assisted with the arrangement and description of these records from 1999-2002.

 Search Terms Mount Holyoke College. Board of Trustees. Proxy Committee. Mount Holyoke College. Committee on Social Responsibility. Mount Holyoke College--Administration. Mount Holyoke College--Finance. Mount Holyoke College--Records and correspondence. Apartheid--South Africa. Investments--Moral and ethical aspects. Social responsibility of business. United States--Foreign economic relations--South Africa. Corporation records. Financial records. Minutes. Notebooks. Questionnaires. Reports. Drogus, Carol Ann. Investor Responsibility Research Center. Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies. Meeting Binders, Subject Files, and Divestiture Materials 1973-1992 1 1 Binder 1978-1980 1 2 Binder January-November 1981 1 3 Binder November 1981-1982 1 4 Binder 1982-1983 1 5 Binder 1983-1984 1 6 Minutes 1974-1979, 1982-1984 1 7 Reports 1974-1984 2 1 Social responsibility background material circa 1979-1983 2 2 General files 1985 2 3 General files 1986-1987 2 4 General files 1988-1989 2 5 General files 1989-1990 2 6 Memos re: divestiture 1978-1989 2 7 Divestiture correspondence 1978-1992 2 8 Reports re: divestiture 1978-1983 2 9 Resolutions, proposals, statements regarding divestiture 1973-1984 2 10 Meeting agenda re: divestiture 1982 2 11 Statement on social responsibility in investments 1987 2 12 Clippings re: divestiture 1979, 1981 2 13 Announcement concerning a student forum on apartheid 1980 Correspondence, Committee on Social Responsibility Materials, Background Materials, and Reports 1981-1994 3 1 Correspondence 1985-1986 3 2 Committee on Social Responsibility Material 1981-1993 3 3 Memoranda 1973-1994 3 4 Communication between the Proxy Committee and the Committee on Social Responsibility 1984-1985 3 5 Background material 1985-1987 3 6 Background material November 1985 3 7 Sullivan reports 1984-1985 3 8 IRCC reports 1984-March 1985 4 1 IRCC reports April 1985-February 1986 4 2 IRCC reports February-November 1986 4 3 IRCC reports 1991-1992 Meeting Binders and Chronological Files 1973-1996 5 1 Meeting binder 1974-1984 5 2 Meeting binder: Committee on Social Responsibility 1978-1987 5 3 Meeting binder 1981-1987 5 4 Meeting Binder: Committee meetings 1988-1994 5 5 Meeting binder: Committee members 1992-1996 5 6 Committee records 1973 5 7 Committee records 1974 5 8 Committee records 1975 6 1 Committee records 1976 6 2 Committee records 1977 6 3 Committee records 1977 6 4 Committee records 1978 6 5 Committee records 1978-1979 6 6 Committee meeting April 11, 1978 7 1 Letters to corporations re: South Africa 1977-1979 7 2 Committee records 1979-1980 7 3 Committee records 1979-1980 7 4 Committee records 1980-1981 7 5 Committee records 1980-1981 7 6 Committee records 1981-1982 7 7 Committee records 1981-1982 8 1 Committee records 1981-1982 8 2 Committee meeting November 6, 1981 8 3 Committee records 1982-1983 8 4 Committee meeting April 15, 1983 8 5 Committee records 1983-1984 8 6 Committee meeting April 11, 1984 8 7 Committee records 1984-1985 8 8 Committee meeting April 16, 1985 8 9 Committee records 1985-1986 9 1 Committee records 1985-1986 9 2 Portfolio 1985-1986 9 3 Meeting April 16, 1986 9 4 Committee on Social Responsibility 1985-1986 9 5 Committee on Social Responsibility: Meeting re: South Africa November 7, 1985 9 6 Mount Holyoke College policy on social responsibility and investments (historical) 1973-1987 9 7 Social responsibility policies of other institutions 1985-1986 9 8 South Africa matters 1985-1986 9 9 Sullivan Principles 1985-1986 9 10 Faculty letter and reply June 1985 9 11 Corporate response to Elizabeth T. Kennan letter July 22, 1985 9 12 Coca-Cola response to Elizabeth T. Kennan letter July 22, 1985 9 13 General Electric response to Elizabeth T. Kennan letter July 22, 1985 10 1 Mobil response to Elizabeth T. Kennan letter July 22, 1985 10 2 Consortium on South Africa 1985-1986 10 3 After divestment 1985-1986 10 4 Alumnae responses to divestment decision 1985-1986 10 5 Alumnae Quarterly article Summer 1986 10 6 Divestiture 1985-1986 10 7 Committee records 1986-1987 10 8 Committee records 1986-1987 10 9 Mailed ballots 1986-1987 10 10 Portfolio 1986-1987 10 11 Meeting April 14, 1987 10 12 Committee records 1987-1988 10 13 Committee records 1987-1988 11 1 Meeting April 15, 1988 11 2 Meeting and voting history 1987-1988 11 3 Portfolio June 30, 1988 11 4 Proxies to be voted and mailed ballots 1987-1988 11 5 Committee records 1988-1989 11 6 Committee records 1988-1989 11 7 Proxies to be voted 1988-1989 11 8 Proxies to be voted 1988-1989 11 9 Mail ballots and proxies to be voted 1988-1989 11 10 Meetings April 19, 1989 and May 12, 1989 11 11 Divestment information 1988-1989 11 12 South Africa list 1984-1988 11 13 Mail ballots 1989-1990 11 14 Joint meeting with Committee on Social Responsibility November 3, 1989 11 15 Meeting April 12, 1990 12 1 IRCC reports 1989-1990 12 2 Committee records 1990-1991 12 3 Committee records 1990-1991 12 4 Committee records 1990-1991 12 5 Mail ballots 1990-1991 12 6 Portfolio and South Africa list February 28, 1991 and July 10, 1991 12 7 Committee records 1991-1992 12 8 Mail ballots 1991-1992 12 9 Mail ballots 1991-1992 13 1 Committee records 1992-1993 13 2 Committee records 1993-1994 13 3 Proxies to be voted 1993-1994 13 4 Mail ballots 1993-1994 13 5 Mail ballots 1993-1994 13 6 CERES (Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies) Principles 1992-1994 13 7 South Africa 1993-1994 13 8 Committee records 1994-1996 14 1 Proxies to be voted 1994-1995 14 2 Mail ballots 1994-1995 14 3 Meeting March 19, 1995 14 4 Proxy voting guidelines and voting history 1994-1995 14 5 IRRC 1995-1996 14 6 Mount Holyoke College-Chase addendum June 12, 1996