If Harvard Wants to Lead on Climate, It Must Drop David Rubenstein, Harvard Corporation Member
The Crimson | Phoebe G. Barr
In this opinion piece, a ‘23’/’24 student targets David Rubenstein, arguing that he should step down as a member of the Harvard Corporation due to profiteering from the fossil fuel industry. Rubenstein is co-founder and co-chairman of The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm.
“The Carlyle Group’s portfolio contains more than 70 fossil fuel companies, including some of the worst private oil companies in America. It is a firm that fuels the climate crisis, pollutes and victimizes poor and vulnerable communities, and profits off it all,” Barr explains.
“Rubenstein retains his place in the Harvard Corporation, even as his personal financial interests harm Harvard’s own institutional priorities. Such conflicts may weaken the University’s ability to protect its portfolio and fulfill its fiduciary duties while following through with divestment. They might endanger the academic integrity of Harvard’s climate science research and stall the environmental solutions our world sorely needs from leading institutions like Harvard…”
“The call for Rubenstein is this: recuse or resign.”