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1 what is the BoR?
While the UW prides itself on student representation in its
governance, the university is ultimately governed by the
Board of Regents (BoR) and the UW Investment
Management Company (UWINCO). Even President Ana Mari
Cauce is subject to the power these groups of well-funded
and ill-intentioned individuals wield. So what do these two
apparatuses do? How do they affect the UW, and what
violent decisions have they made?
Reporting relationships at UW as of 2022
BoR Mission Statement
"The University of Washington Board of Regents governs and stewards
the University in succession to past citizens, and for the benefit of
present and future citizens of the State of Washington"
The BoR oversee the hiring and day-to-day actions of the university president,
and hold monthly public* meetings to determine the direction of university
funding and to hear from committees.
In addition, their role and legitimacy are enshrined into WA State law: RCW
28B.20.130. Each Regent is appointed by the Washington State governor and
approved by the WA State Senate for a six year term, which can be extended
at the discretion of the current governor at the end of their term
*technically public, but often in inaccessible locations with little notice
10
the big picture
Additionally, ICA is not the only group pressuring the UW to
engage in more just investment practices, nor has it been the
only one in the past. The Advisory Committee on Socially
Responsible Investing (ACSRI), the main apparatus through
which ICA has been able to achieve divestment (half-hearted as
it may be), was formed in part out of pressure from activists
pushing for divestment from the Military Industrial Complex, the
prison system, and from Israeli apartheid. And currently there are
several anti-imperialist, pro-people student groups urging the
UW to engage in equitable investment practices.
These groups do not operate alone, but rather in a broad base
that unites on whatever points they can to fight against a narrow,
common enemy. In the context of UW student groups, this
narrow enemy is often the BoR, which stands in the way of
progressive action at the UW. And despite the power held by the
BoR, students know that we have greater power, drawn from our
greater interest in moving the institutions we participate in toward
actions that serve the people—or at least don't harm them.
we know the Board of
regents does not want to
divest—so we must give them
no other choice!
9 The Big Picture
ICA has held and continues to hold the success of their
campaign to the standard of its impact. ICA is not just looking for
a symbolic divestment—which would nonetheless harm the
reputations of fossil fuel companies—but also a real cutting of
ties that moves the UW toward sustainable energy and keeps
money out of the hands of fossil fuel corporations.
As a student-led group, there are limitations of institutional
divestment that actors within university activism face. The
institution stalls and waits students out, knowing there is a point
in time where people graduate and move on. This can clearly be
seen in the BoR's response that we wait until May for our
inquires for greater clarity to be answered. Only after years of
efforts by the ICA was the ACSRI was formed in 2017, and it
took 2 years to reconvene afterwards in response to growing
student pressure in 2019. We have finally reached a point as of
last spring where the UW has made a statement on divestment,
but the follow-through will fall on student activists to ensure it is
done with proper oversight.
This is the nature of student activism, and the ICA is no
exception. However, they have worked hard to create and
maintain an anti-hierarchical culture dedicated to mutual aid and
liberation. Part of that dedication is their commitment to
recognizing that climate and racial justice are inseparable.
Although student leadership and involvement in the climate
justice movement is largely white, they were very supportive of
our efforts to build a 'decolonize climate justice' campaign, and
never disregarded the historical and continuing importance of
these discussions.
What is UWINCO? 2
UWINCO, likewise, is an internal investment management company
established by the BoR in 2015. Its stated mission is to “preserve and
grow the University’s investments to support UW’s global leadership in
research and education.”
UWINCO oversees the management of...
Consolidated Endowment Fund,
totalling $ 4 . 7 billion
$31 million in oil and gas company 32 Degrees Diversified Energy
$70 million in military arms manufacturer Brightstar Capital Partners
$128 million in private prison owner and climate threat BlackRock Inc.
ICA public records requests have revealed that UWINCO investments are
muddied, often in investment firms or mutual funds that mask their true
character. UW investments nonetheless include $124 Million in Fossil
Fuels, with 30% of that in Master Limited Partnerships with natural gas
pipelines.
Ethical considerations have led the Board, from time to time, to
engage the University in shareholder activism or divestment. Such
occurrences are rare, because divestment from specific
companies and/or market sectors is almost always at odds with the
interests of the university. Much more often, the BoR upholds its
ties with violent corporations or makes halfhearted and even phony
divestment plans. One reason for this, aside from the interests of
the UW itself, is the personal interests and backgrounds of the
BoR members.
3 Notable past regents ICA's divestment campaign 8
Former CEO and Chairman of Alaska Airlines
Former Chairman of Puget Sound Energy

William S Ayer
(2012-2022)

Advisor to the Mayor of Seattle, Bruce Harrell

Senior Director of USA Citizenship & Market
Development at Microsoft
A protest in Red Square

Joanne Harrell
(2009-2022)

Chief Legal Officer of Costco Wholesale

Corporation
Trustee of Seattle Children’s Hospital

Joel Benoliel
(2016-2021)
Endorsements from other
ICA graphic celebrating divestment
student groups
Deputy Secretary of Defense under President
Trump
Acting Secretary of Defense under President
Trump
Senior Vice President of Boeing Co. from 2004-
Patrick Shanahan
2016
(2012-2017)
Pro-divestment chalking in front of Kane Hall
7 4
5 ICA's divestment campaign
Institutional Climate Action (ICA), a national student
organization with an active UW chapter, has been waging their
5-pointed campaign for the UW to cut ties with the fossil fuel
industry since 2020. The first point, divestment, was nominally
achieved in Fall 2022, but the remaining four points include
refusing dirty money, decarbonizing campus, stopping building
new FF infrastructure, and stopping promotional advertising of
FF corporations.
Despite the BoR announcing in September that they would move
forward with divestment from Fossil Fuel companies, they
pushed back the deadline by two years and allowed continued
investment in FF companies that were also engaged in
sustainability efforts—aka every single FF company. These
deceptive practices allow the UW to maintain its reputation as a
bastion of knowledge and a just institution, while also
maintaining its sources of money and power.
ICA's actions include public comments at the BoR meetings,
demonstrations, sit-ins, public education, and more. Their
presence and activity on campus serve an important role in
opposing the BoR's violent financial decisions—and they are
continuing to push forward their remaining four campaign points
and ensure that divestment is fully achieved.
UWINCO Board Members 2
William Ayer, ex-Regent and ex-Alaska Airlines CEO
David Bonderman, billionaire and founder of TPG Capital
Michael Larson, former Chief Investment Officer of the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation
Mary Pugh, CEO and co-CIO of Pugh Capital Management
Blaine Tamaki, 2022-2023 Vice Chair of Board of Regents
Bryan White, Managing Director of BlackRock (2007-2016)
Ana Mari Cauce, UW President (ex officio)
What these appointments tell us
That the university is controlled by the Puget Sound's rich and
powerful. That some of the country's largest corporations are
represented on the very boards that control our university. That
the public-private partnership that exists between the governor's
appointments of ex-CEOs to the Board of Regents contradicts
Washington State's efforts to be a climate leader among states.
How can we push for
climate justice at the
University of Washington when
the nation's largest climate-
destructive corporations
have a strangle-hold on our
institution?
5 What corporations and financial interests are
represented on the Board of Regents?
Current Board Members
Blaine Tamaki
Founder of Aldus and Visio (software
development companies)
Current managing partner of Harmony
Meadows, LLC, a “state-of-the-art tennis
facility and events center”
Jeremy Jaech
Founder of Tamaki Law 6
Former Vice President of the Washington State
Trial Lawyers Association
Former Hospital Board Chair of St. Elizabeth’s
Medical Center
(Vice Chair)
President and CEO of Sea Mar Community
Health Centers since 1978

Current managing partner of Seattle Family

Support, LLC
Board member and president of Lakeside
School, the prestigious K-12 institution where
Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos' children graduated
Trustee on the Board of Pomona College
Libby G. Trustee on the Board of Santa Clara
MacPhee
University
Rogelio Riojas
Retired president and publisher of The Tacoma
News Tribune, The Olympian, and The
Bellingham Herald media companies
Executive committee member of the Economic
David Zeeck Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County
(Chair)

Technology and life science entrepreneur

and investor Retired attorney of Fuller and Fuller Attorneys
Owns investment firm Seattle Ventures Chair of the Women of the Washington State
Former UW Vice Provost of Association of Justice
Linden Rhoads
Commercialization
Leonor R. Fuller
President of Very Strategic Group, a
consulting firm for executive coaching and
educational policies
Board member of Washington State Kaiser
Permanente
Constance W. Board member of The Seattle Foundation Elizabeth Lee Alexes Harris
Leonard Forsman
Rice Board member of Swedish Hospital Chairman, Suquamish Tribe (Student appointment) (Faculty appointment)