Not only do universities educate students on issues of social justice, but they also serve as venues for students to organize around these issues and generate substantive change in society. Today, student leaders at Brown, Dartmouth, and Yale are seizing their opportunity to stimulate change by releasing a joint statement calling for responsible investment policies in relation to conflict minerals sourced from eastern Congo. Brown, Dartmouth, and Yale all participate in the Conflict-Free Campus Initiative, or CFCI, a network of more than 150 campuses worldwide, in this rising call for action.
Congo is home to the deadliest conflict since World War II, and is considered the most dangerous place in the world to be a woman due to incredibly high rates of sexual violence and the use of rape as a weapon of war. While there is no singular cause for this conflict, one of its major drivers is conflict minerals. Rebel groups fight to capture mining areas and use the profits from the illicit mineral trade to fund their violent campaigns. These minerals end up in our cell phones, laptops, cameras, and countless other consumer electronics.
Universities are major purchasers of these products, and consequently they are in a strategic position to pressure the end users of Congo's minerals - electronics companies - to clean up their supply chains and ensure that their products are not funding violence in Congo.
Student leaders at Brown, Dartmouth, and Yale reiterate this position in the
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