Princeton University may divest from gun shares

Princeton University administrators are considering divesting from companies involved in the manufacture and sale of certain firearms, a spokesperson for the Ivy League school said on Tuesday.

Princeton University officials are considering divesting from companies who are engaged in selling or manufacturing firearms.

The move comes one week after a coalition of professors at Princeton assembled a petition demanding administrators at the prestigious institution to take the action.

“Questions about divesting come up periodically,” said Martin Mbugua, spokesperson for Princeton University. “This issue will be taken up by the resources committee whose job it is to address such matters.”

Mbugua, however, declined to release the full text of the petition or list of signatories to Campus Reform.

It was not immediately clear which businesses would be impacted by the potential move to divest.

The Daily Princetonian, Princeton’s official school newspaper, printed select excerpts from the petition.

“We call upon Princeton University to follow suit, by renouncing current or future investments in companies involved in the manufacture and distribution of multiple, rapid-firing semiautomatic assault weapons, and the bullets that equip them,” it said, according to the Princetonian.

Mbugua confirmed that Princeton University president Shirley Tilghman had received the petition on Monday, when the authors reportedly delivered it in person.

The petition was put together by music professor Simon Morrison, Slavic professor Caryl Emerson, and French professor Marie-Helene Huet, who concede they are not “experts in matters related to the interpretation of the constitution” in the document.

None of the professors returned calls for comment made by Campus Reform.

Follow the author of this article on twitter: @oliverdarcy