Eisgruber: private prison divestment still on the table

At a Council of the Princeton University Community meeting Monday, representatives of the Resources Committee stated that the University will continue to consider a divestment proposal by the Princeton Private Prison Divest Coalition as a primary item on its agenda.

The proposal, which triggered campus-wide discussion the previous semester, was not advanced by the Resources Committee then. However, this past April, Vice President Bob Durkee stated that Princeton has not and will not invest in private prisons. He clarified that the question remaining is whether the university will commit to not investing in for-profit prisons in the future. Members of PPPD staged a teach-in during the meeting where the Resources Committee announced its decision.

The University invites students to participate in discussions on the topic, a representative from the Resources Committee stated. In response to a question by Undergraduate Student Government Myesha Jemison ’18 about sitting a PPPD member at the Resources Committee meetings, a representative agreed to consider the prospect. According to a coalition member, PPPD still has not received any feedback from the administration about its original proposal, which the Resources Committee said did not meet the “high bar” last semester.

In response to an inquiry from The Tab, President Eisgruber stated that there’s no definitive timeline for when a decision on the proposal can be reached.