Harvard Students Lose Suit to Force Divestment

The Massachusetts Appeals Court has unanimously rejected a lawsuit by Harvard University students seeking to force the university to sell its holdings in the fossil fuel industry, The Boston Globe reported. The students sought to assert "special standing" under state laws for nonprofit organizations as being among those who benefit from the university's endowment. Then they said they should be able to force divestment. The appeals court, however, found that the students failed “to show that they have been accorded a personal right in the management or administration of Harvard’s endowment that is individual to them or distinct from the student body or public at large.”