Vassar students sit in outside president’s office

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TOWN OF POUGHKEEPSIE – Students at Vassar College want the school to divest from direct holdings in fossil fuel companies and give students a meaningful voice in college affairs.
The school’s Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign began a sit-in outside President Catherine Hill’s office on Monday to join an international movement rallying universities, governments and other endowed institutions to divest from fossil fuels, said group spokesman Ben Lehr.
“There is a perception that climate change is just an environmental issue, but climate change has already disproportionately disenfranchised people from marginalized groups,” Lehr said. “This includes women, people of color and Vassar has a history of opening its doors to marginalized people.”
Students are asking the college to divest from the 200 corporations that hold the largest coal, oil, and gas reserves and restructure its administration to empower the voices of its students, faculty and alumni.
There was no response from the college administration on Monday.
The student sit-in is scheduled to continue all week. 




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