University of California Drops Private Prison Investments Amid Student Demands

[eridani]

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/34153-university-of-california-drops-prison-investments-amid-student-demands

The University of California system said on Friday it will drop its roughly $30 million worth of investments in private prison companies following demands from a black student group.

The decision comes amid a wave of student protests against racism at college campuses across the country as well as the Black Lives Matter civil rights movement against the U.S. criminal justice system, which disproportionately impacts black people.

The UC system's chief investment officer, Jagdeep Singh Bachher, made the decision after meeting with students of the Afrikan Black Coalition, university spokeswoman Dianne Klein said.

Klein said the UC system has a policy against "blanket divestment," but made the decision after further review.

"This made sense given our conclusion that, based on risk over the next several years, these holdings were not a good investment for a long-term investor such as UC," Klein said.

Klein said the amount invested was less than $30 million, a tiny fraction of the UC system's $100 billion investment portfolio. Klein said she did not know exactly which private prison companies the system held shares in or exactly how much money was invested.