Last Wednesday, April 30, Divest DU organized an event called “Stand Up for Climate Justice” on the Carnegie Green. The event included music, speakers and the signing of a divestment petition. The goal of the event was to show student interest about divestment, and to that end, the group delivered their petition to DU Chancellor Robert Coombe.

About 50 students attended Stand Up for Climate Justice, which lasted from 4-5 p.m. The goal of the divestment movement is to force universities across the world to stop investing their endowment funds in companies that produce or profit from fossil fuel, according to junior environmental science major Evan Swaak, a member of Divest DU.

“We are one part of the divestment movement, which is an international movement happening at hundreds of colleges and schools across the country,” said Swaak. “We want our school to stop investing its endowment in fossil fuels.”

The group’s petition states that, “It is unethical for our university to invest in companies that will condemn the planet to climate disaster.”

According to Swaak, the petition had garnered around 1,000 signatures at the time it was delivered to Coombe.

“We have about 1,000 signatures now, which is about 20% of the undergraduate population,” said Swaak.

He believes that showing the document to Coombe will highlight student support for the divest movement.

“[We’re going to] show him that we’re more than a number, and that will make more of an impact,” he said.

Divest DU president Erin Smith, a sophomore strategic communications major, said that the event cost around $400 and was funded by the Undergraduate Student Government Sustainability Committee. DU Environmental Team and Students for Sustainable Food also helped promote the event and had tables there, with the latter providing food from Ted’s Montana Grill.

Smith says the group has a meeting with the Board of Trustees later this month.