The faculty at the University of Iowa passed a historic resolution to demand that their university hold financial services company TIAA accountable for its ties to land grabs and deforestation. The resolution also urges university leadership to work with TIAA to get their retirements out of farmland.
This victory cannot be overstated. Worth almost $8 billion, TIAA’s farmland investments have been linked to land grabbing and deforestation in Brazil and to corporate concentration, environmental destruction, and factory farming here in the U.S. For the past four years, we have raised concerns that their portfolios are funding agricultural practices that contribute to human rights abuses and accelerate climate change.
By voting 42-7 in favor of the resolution, the University of Iowa Faculty Senate showed they were serious about reducing harm caused by their retirement funds. This historic moment came after six months of organizing and even after TIAA put extra pressure on the faculty to vote against the resolution.
As we begin year four of our campaign, faculty and staff at colleges and universities across the country are launching their own campaigns to hold TIAA accountable and keep workers’ retirements out of farms and forests.
Interested in taking action with us? Here are two quick things you can do!
- If you are a student, staff, or faculty member at a college or university: Download our action toolkit and begin organizing today!
- If you haven’t already: Sign our petition to TIAA’s Board of Trustees and tell them to get to the bottom of the company’s ties to land grabbing and deforestation.
Learn more about the Stop Land Grabs campaign here.
