The University of California has announced that it will divest its holdings from companies that do business with the government of the Sudan. The move was taken to protest the ongoing genocide in the Darfur region of the country.
The University of California became the first major public university to take this step. Many highly ranked private schools have already made similar decisions including Stanford, Dartmouth, Yale and Harvard.
'The University of California has taken a principled stand against the tragedy in Sudan by severing its financial connections from those nine companies who aid the genocide and by lending its voice to those calling for peace in the region,' explained Gerald L. Parsky, chairman of the board, said in a statement released by the university system.
The California Public Employees' Retirement System, or CalPERS, is now considering divesting from three foreign companies that have ties to the Sudanese government.
The dollar amount of the potential divestment won't be known until the move is completed. The entire process could take as many as 18 months.
Fighting in Sudan between ethnic Arabs and ethnic Africans has raged on for years. The government has been accused of supporting Arab guerillas that have attacked, killed and raped civilians and forcibly removed millions from their homes. The government of Sudan denies supporting the militias.
