Within the next few weeks, the Student Union hopes to create a formalized body through which students can voice their opinions about the companies in which the University invests its endowment, which could alter Brandeis' financial review process, said Student Union President Jason Gray '10. Gray explained that currently the University Board of Trustees decides where the University's $750 million endowment is invested.

Students can make recommendations about the endowment through "access points," including the Student Union, the Graduate Students Association, the Faculty Senate and through President Reinharz, Gray said. He said the University's investment department or an appropriate committee within the Board of Trustees makes decisions based on recommendations presented to them.

"I want to take the access points through the Student Union . and formalize [the process] so that there's a channel for students to be involved in making recommendations regarding investment levels and initiating shareholder resolutions pertaining to social and ethical issues," Gray said.

Senator for the Class of 2011 Alex Melman said that last year his group, Independent Voices for Endowment Sustainability and Transparency, started an initiative to push the University to invest only in companies that share the University's values and to have a transparent endowment. He said the idea for the student board developed out of this initiative and may include representation from the faculty senate and the Graduate Students Association.

Melman said, "Investments should reflect our social and environmental values." He added that the University is resistant to making its investment holdings public, so the group will additionally lobby for investment transparency.

"The University shouldn't be hiding its investments . . We're a community-based University."

The formalized student committee would report to Deborah Kuenstner, the University's chief investment officer for guidance.

"I'm responsible for the big job of investing and monitoring managers and figuring out: What does it mean that we're having a market meltdown and do we need to do something different? . I can provide information to the student group, and I think that the student group potentially could include faculty members," Kuenstner said.

Kuenstner said there is already a process in which all community members could get their voices heard in the financial review process through recommendations about the endowment.

Additionally, she said, there is a "long-standing [socially conscious] policy in place, so that's always kind of an over-arching consideration when we make investment decisions."

Gray explained that in the 1980s, students launched a successful campaign to divest from companies doing business in South Africa as a response to the apartheid taking place there. Several years ago, upon students' requests, the University agreed to never invest in companies doing business in Sudan to financially prevent the Sudanese government from being able to commit genocide in Darfur.

Still, Kuenstner is skeptical about the necessity of a student committee, as the University has never had one in the past.

"Certainly people who have felt strongly about issues have had their voices heard. . There's been a lot of student discussion about process, and not a lot of student discussion about issues. I think if there are issues that we want to hear about, we've shown ourselves to be willing to listen and flexible about taking the community's views into account," Kuenstner said.

She explained that students can ask her about specific investments for which they are concerned and she can tell them whether it is realistic to adjust the University's financial portfolio.

"Not a single issue, not one issue, has come to me, even in all these conversations. ... So we need some issues to talk about," Kuenstner said.

Gray responded to Kuenstner and said, "The committee hasn't brought up specific issues yet because the committee does not exist yet. . We are working to make what we will create as effective as possible.