The College Fix

This is supposed to be a crowning achievement in student democracy, but it looks pretty familiar as an indication of American apathy.

Just a third of the University of Pennsylvania undergraduate student population voted in a referendum on whether the school should divest from fossil fuels, The Daily Pennsylvanian reports:

Thirty-three percent of undergraduate students voted in total, with 87.8 percent favoring divestment. In order for the referendum to be valid, 15 percent of the student body had to vote and 50 percent had to favor divestment.

This was greater than turnout in the midterm elections last fall. The problem was the online voting system turned away a big chunk of students:

However, students who enrolled in fewer than four classes, an option popular with seniors, had trouble voting because of the way the computer voting system works.

Those students had to email their votes to the Nominations and Elections Committee, but not all students were told about that option.

It’s unclear whether the trustees will be swayed by the vote – last summer they rejected calls to divest from tobacco companies because such products are legal.

An editorial said Penn’s investment in the top 200 fossil fuel companies is 4 percent of its endowment.

Read the article.

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