Board of Trustees Task Force on Environmental, Social, and Governance Responsibility

To the George Washington University Community:

Today at a meeting of the Board of Trustees I announced that the Board will establish a long-term, proactive approach to managing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) responsibility.

Many members of our university community, including students, have said that they want to ensure the Board would listen and engage on these issues. I assured our students earlier today, and I want to assure the community now, that the Board is listening, and the Board is engaged. We understand the importance of this critical work, and we are committed to fulfilling our oversight duties with robust input and collaboration from the GW community.

The Board’s objectives are to:

• Provide an institutional statement of beliefs on environmental, social, and governance responsibility.
• Address a broad range of environmental, social, and governance issues.
• Establish a process to consider proposals from the GW community.
• Promote education, research, and intellectual debate.
• Inform constituents about policies, practices, and obligations.

The Board has created a Task Force to address these issues, and we will work with the Student Association, the Faculty Senate and the GW Alumni Association to identify representatives to serve. Trustee Peter Harrison has agreed to serve as chair of the Task Force, and we are grateful for his service. Over the coming months, the Task Force will seek input and feedback from the university community, and we will provide more information on these opportunities as it becomes available. I hope all members of our GW community will be involved in this process as we move forward together.

Sincerely,

Grace E. Speights
Chair, Board of Trustees