Task forces focused on where the Oregon State University puts its money were created over last summer, and have begun to meet.

These were created in response to calls for divestment, or removal of money, from the war in gaza from university students last year.

On June 3, 2024, following the overnight encampment and calls for divestment, Oregon State University President Jayathi Murthy promised university community members in a letter to the public that OSU would establish a Task Force on Responsible Investing and a Task Force on Responsible Procurement.

The Task Force on Responsible Investing was charged with “evaluating the alignment of institutional investment policies with institutional values and priorities.” 

The Task Force on Responsible Procurement was charged with “evaluating alignment of institutional procurement with institutional values and priorities.” 

Both task forces were said to be launched by the fall term of 2024 and complete their work by the end of the 2024-2025 academic year. 

On July 10, 2024, communication was sent to OSU members who had indicated an interest in contributing to OSU’s “efforts to respond to the crisis in Gaza, Israel and the region.” 

A participation form was sent out to all OSU community members on Sep. 25, stating that members of the community could indicate interest in participating in these efforts by completing an online form. 

Members of both task forces, as well as members of advisory committees on library resources and scholarly events, were selected after 315 OSU community members expressed interest and 57 provided detailed information about their experience and expertise.

Task force and committee leads reviewed submissions anonymously, seeking to “select members holding diverse perspectives, experiences and educational backgrounds, and representing a variety of roles at OSU.” 

OSU employees representing the Division of Financial Administration, the Office of Institutional Diversity and the Office of General Counsel were assigned to work with both task forces. 

According to OSU’s website on the task force, the Task Force on Responsible Investing selected committee members and prepared materials for the committee’s consideration in the fall. The committee plans to advance its work by “listening and gaining an understanding of task force members’ interests, exploring and understanding OSU’s investment policies and practices … and (having) broader engagement for listening sessions.”

According to OSU’s website on the task force, the Task Force on Responsible Procurement had similar accomplishments in the fall, with the same goal of understanding member interests, “educating the task force on statutory and regulatory compliance … and preparing for community listening sessions later in the year.” 

One member of the Task Force on Responsible Procurement, Professor of Political Science Alison Johnston, stated that their task force had only had one meeting so far, but that all discussion and recommendations the Task Forces made would be public and presented to the university for comment in May. 

Members of task forces did not want to comment further.