Students for a Democratic Society is one step closer to creating more transparent investing at UF after a majority of students approved the group's referendum in last week's Student Government elections.
The referendum asked students whether UF should create an independent committee to advise the Board of Trustees, UF's highest governing body, on socially responsible investments of UF endowments.
About 80 percent of UF students who voted approved the referendum, according to SG records.
Skeet Surrency, a UF organic and sustainable agriculture junior and SDS member, said the referendum is the first step of a long-term process that could take between 10 to 20 years.
He said it's important because UF's investment records of $1.2 billion in endowments are "all behind closed doors."
The UF Investment Corporation, which oversees UF's investments, does not disclose the list of companies UF buys into because the list changes so quickly, UF officials said. If UF disclosed its investments, they maintain, others might invest the same way, which could mean lower returns.
Two SDS members plan to present the referendum at the board's next meeting March 13 and 14, he said.
Trustee Carlos Alfonso, also a member of the UF Foundation Board of Directors - which oversees UF's endowments - said he looks forward to hearing more of the group's ideas.
"Students are what it's all about," Alfonso said. "But that's a big word - socially responsible. Everybody has a different idea of what socially responsible is."
He said his definition of "socially responsible investments" would include those that support sustainability efforts and wouldn't be harmful to anyone or the environment.
But when it comes to money, "it's mind-boggling how interconnected everything is," he said.
