Mohana Buckley
Contributing Writer
Near the beginning of this semester, my perception of Sewanee’s ideals and how it upholds those values shifted. Throughout a series of conversations since then, it has continued to expand.
On February 8, Simba Chakanyuka (C’ 18), a vice president in BlackRock’s Financial Institutions Group, spoke to the Sewanee community about his work at the request of the Babson Center for Global Commerce. A promotional email included the following information: “BlackRock is a global investment management company and is the world’s largest asset manager with over $9 trillion in assets. FIG provides expertise, advice, and risk analytics to its insurance partners. Committed to sustainability, BlackRock views ‘climate risk as investment risk,’ and their portfolio managers integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors across their investment platform.”
Soon after posters announcing Chakanyuka’s talk went up around campus, protest posters began appearing on the same bulletin boards. They called for the Babson Center to cancel the talk, citing ethical concerns about the company that the Sewanee alum represents.
Previously aware of controversy surrounding the environmental impact of large corporations, that last sentence gave me pause. I was specifically concerned about how BlackRock’s priorities conflicted with Sewanee’s values.
Here on the Mountain, we are instructed to think critically, as is consistent with the Liberal Arts education. We’re called to reflect upon and question the narratives and media we consume. Our University Purpose states that Sewanee is “…dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom in close community and in full freedom of inquiry, and enlightened by Christian faith…” with the intent that “…students be prepared to search for truth, seek justice, preserve liberty under law, and serve God and humanity.” In summary, “… Sewanee enables students to live with grace, integrity, and a reverent concern for the world.”
During his talk, Chakanyuka shared his experience as an international student from Zimbabwe. Initially interested in physics, he eventually became a Carey Fellow in Sewanee’s Business Honors Program. As a senior, he applied for a BlackRock internship in NYC, was accepted, and was later hired for a full-time job. From there, he learned on the spot, grew, and began to climb.
Chakanyuka’s story is impressive, and the interviewing and networking skills he shared are valuable. During Q&A, I inquired about the company’s sustainable investments and whether or not Chakanyuka approaches that topic with clients. “Because of the diverse client base we serve, and how our business has been built, we’ve effectively created a platform where you can find what you want. There’s definitely been a lot of investments in sustainable technology, [specifically] BlackRock and Occidental,” Chakanyuka said. “[We funded] a carbon capture project in Texas. In Europe, we raise funds where the goal is to just invest in renewable-type power structures. When I speak to clients, I make them aware of that. But I’m not going to lie to you and say that all my clients want to have that conversation. That is not the case. Some clients just want to hear what’s going on in the coal industry. And so, I say that to say, the way BlackRock invests [is] dictated by what the end client wants.”
Though it was founded only 30 years ago, BlackRock is one of the top investment firms in the world. Their clientele is vast, and their impact on the free market demands our attention. On BlackRock’s website, they are proud to “help millions of people build long-term financial freedom” and they “believe that contributing to the growth of our communities helps all of us thrive.” The validity of these statements is debatable, however, as they demonstrate continued support for companies that do not operate in the interest of the masses.
Despite the efforts Chakanyuka mentioned, there is little evidence to suggest that BlackRock is a true champion of environmental progress and human rights. On the contrary, for several years, BlackRock has come under scrutiny for their heavy hand in industries profiting from the detrimental impact on the Amazon rainforest and the Indigenous peoples there. Reports from Reuters, Amazon Watch, Friends of the Earth, and Forests and Finance provide detailed accounts.
Emma Daughtry (C ‘24), an environmental studies major, is one of a few students I sat down with afterward to discuss their perspectives on the event.
“I feel like at Sewanee we’re very uniquely bound together in this ethic of environmental stewardship,” Daughtry said. “I think it has a lot to say about what we look for and what we teach and what we value.
Daughtry shared a quote from a New York Times article that talked about how BlackRock is divesting from climate in the best interest of their clients. “You’re not acting in the best interest of anyone by intentionally removing your very influential money and power from [spaces of need].”
“If what we’re advocating for is teaching students to be mindful global citizens, we have to be conscious of who we bring onto our campus,” Daughtry said. “I think Sewanee is special because it’s educating students to go out into the world and make positive change.”
Summer Vo (C ‘24), a politics major and women and gender studies minor, offered another view.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a large corporation that is funding a climate crisis as well as undermining the Indigenous communities in the places that it [operates in],” Vo said. “I think [the event] speaks volumes about the actual intentions of Sewanee. Sewanee, in the four years I have been here, has attempted to make strides in rekindling their relationship with the Indigenous people in our campus as well as outside. We’ve brought in Indigenous professors, or tried to, and made a focus to have classes in indigenous studies. However, bringing someone from BlackRock undermines that effort.”
Vo said that having BlackRock come to the University “makes me disappointed in our university.”
When I met with Grayson Davis (C ‘26), a politics major, he highlighted the broad impact of BlackRock, “Put on the world stage, they have the world’s third largest economy behind America and China.”
Regarding Chakanyuka’s visit, Davis said, “I have mixed feelings. I think that the choice to have [Chakanyuka] here was controversial in the sense that what the Sewanee student body upholds value-wise and what the company he’s representing upholds value-wise directly clash. At the same time, we don’t want a Sewanee alum to think that his alma mater doesn’t want him anymore, right?”
Davis sought out a meeting with Myles Elledge, director of the Babson Center. During their conversation they agreed that having representatives speak to the community allows students to ask hard questions if they so choose.
“Open dialogues are incredibly important as a politics major who is very focused on democracy and democratic ideals,” Davis said. “Having the right for free speech is incredibly important to me. In my opinion, those talks are important.”
Davis then reiterated the need to pay attention to BlackRock’s actions and why we should take their seemingly socially-conscious words with a grain of salt.
“They’ve been trying to update their image. In the past, they’ve invested in whatever is most profitable, as most corporations do, right?” Davis said. Davis spoke on how BlackRock has stakes in the “largest polluters in the world” and invests in companies that “commit deforestation.”
“Anywhere that you could think that there is exploitation happening in the world, BlackRock has investments and assets in those companies because they are profitable,” Davis said. “And their main goal, of course, is to turn a profit and continue to have viable assets.”
The global investment leader certainly isn’t shy about their devotion to dirty energy. In a January 2021 letter, signed by Dalia Blass, BlackRock’s then head of external affairs, they emphasized their unwavering support in the fossil fuel industry. “We will continue to invest in and support fossil fuel companies, including Texas fossil fuel companies.” They make clear: “We are perhaps the world’s largest investor in fossil fuel companies, and, as a long-term investor in these companies, we want to see these companies succeed and prosper.”
Influence Map’s March 2022 Finance and Climate Change report revealed that BlackRock’s total Fossil Fuel value under Equity Asset Management was $136.416 billion. In comparison, the next biggest total Fossil Fuel value under Equity Asset Management was $20.889 billion, owned by JP Morgan which now manages $3 trillion in total assets compared to BlackRock’s now $9 trillion.
In BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s 2023 letter to investors he admits they acknowledge “climate risk as an investment risk.” Fink’s prior public statements have also claimed social responsibility, yet the company as a whole has not taken a firm stance to pave the way for the critical structural shifts that will lead to a low-carbon future, as their January 2024 Investment Stewardship Commentary suggests are necessary. This contradiction impedes that progress.
Corporations will either plan ahead to face these challenges directly or Mother Nature will eventually bring their “business as usual” to a grinding halt whether or not it’s convenient, as explained in Wallace-Wells’ New York Times best seller, The Uninhabitable Earth.
As Delana Turner (C ‘24), an American Studies major and politics minor, points out, fleeting awareness and myopic stances don’t do us any good. Turner was concerned about student responses feeling performative.
“I think Sewanee students should care about the people that come to campus,” Turner said. “I mean, at a basic level, usually when Sewanee brings people it’s for networking. It’s like an extension beyond the gates, if that makes sense. It helps students kind of reflect on career paths.”
Turner noticed the black and white posters that went up around campus, calling attention to BlackRock’s involvement in human rights violations, which were swiftly taken down. “There was no discussion about it,” Turner said. “I would have loved to talk to [whoever did that]. It seemed like they were trying to do some kind of collective action thing, but they put no [contact information].”
Turner also raised concerns about how and when students choose to speak up.
“I want to know how many black alumni have been brought back to give such talks, especially in the business department, because this is the first time, at least in my time here, that I’ve seen such a strong reaction,” Turner said.
She felt that, from Sewanee past to present, students sometimes “pick up EQB and put it down. And that’s what bothers me about making that Simba’s problem only, making that Elledge’s problem only, because there was no conversation about it.”
Following Chakanyuka’s visit, I interviewed Elledge. Elledge heard the concerns that Sewanee students raised and agreed to a certain extent. However, he also presented another valuable perspective.
“It’s critical to foster this dialogue about the role of business in society and how that’s changing, and how students can play a role in that, right?” Elledge said. “And so you need to look at different companies, companies of various sizes, that have employees from very different backgrounds and experiences. And so, it’s in that spirit that we’re trying to bring these conversations, bring people to campus so that we can have those dialogues.”
Elledge said that students were involved in the decision to bring Chakanyuka to campus. He emphasized that the Babson Center is highly interested in presenting talks that students would benefit from.
“I think it’s really important for students to have access to leaders in business or philanthropy or nonprofit world,” he continued. “Students need role models, right? They need mentors… making those connections is really important for fostering development of our current students.”
Elledge spoke on the concerns about BlackRock’s mission being in opposition with the liberal arts curriculum.
“BlackRock is a huge corporation,” Elledge said. “Because of their size, they do things that we should care about and understand regardless of one’s perspective, right? They do some things that have been polarizing for both extremes in the political spectrum, right?”
“You could look at any bank, any investment firm, many different organizations in the financial sector [and] you could find issues because of their size and the practices that they may have that not everyone’s going to agree with,” Elledge said. “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have conversations, right? We’re not doing our duty if we don’t engage in those kinds of investment conversations and research work. This is a pivotal time for [students] to think about those things. We’re cultivating that through these events.”
Elledge stressed his belief in the importance of intersection between sustainability and business at Sewanee.
“We now have an environmental sustainability track within the business minor. One of the themes that we’re advancing there is startups and social good and how companies are delivering on sustainability issues, social justice issues. We have a slogan that, you know, the world of business has many doors, and so we’re trying to open students’ eyes to all those different doors of what it means to be in business.”
I reached out to BlackRock’s media team and gained insight into how the company conducts business. BlackRock’s objective, as stated on their website, is to help their clients achieve financial security. This on a surface level is not a problem until it conflicts with protecting people over profit.
BlackRock’s power and influence certainly must allow for selective partnerships, and the cultivation of long-term ethical and sustainable investment opportunities rather than a stake in the rampant overproduction of fossil fuels which are finite resources that will soon enough guarantee zero returns.
Capitalism and climate justice cannot coexist without extraordinary transformation. We are on track to run out of the abundance of resources needed to maintain our constant need for growth, and then what will clients invest in?
I say this not to scare readers; instead, I hope to remind us all of the dangers we face if we accept the status quo. It’s not too late to turn the train around and move towards a better path. We must engage in these conversations in order to get the ball rolling. We then have to hold leaders accountable and press those in power for change.
This discussion is certainly not black and white, and so although I recognize it is not solely BlackRock’s problem, they were our guest. Bearing Sewanee’s values in mind, it is imperative that students like myself feel safe and comfortable dissenting on that choice without fear of repercussions.
Now I turn to you, the readers: While companies do (and should) shoulder the most responsibility, staying informed is essential to fighting the good fight. I have one voice, but together we are loud. Knowledge is power, and when enough people pay attention, institutions bend.
My hope is to begin an open conversation about the kinds of goals, projects, companies, and careers Sewanee celebrates as a university that promotes a commitment to sustainability.
We must have transparent student input across departments regarding guests who are invited to campus and the information that is shared about the event. We need more forums that provide opportunities for students to voice frustration or confusion or joy about any of the issues our campus community faces. Lastly, I would like to encourage students who feel unheard to consider letter writing to administration, Sewanee Trustees, the Board of Regents, CEOs, or even elected representatives. We have much more influence than you might think.
Let us collectively call Sewanee to hold fast to our mission and demand honorable commitment to our purpose.