Daniel Kurtz, co-chair of Pryor Cashman's Nonprofit + Tax-Exempt Organizations Group, discussed recent student-initiated lawsuits at Johns Hopkins University and the University of New Mexico that target the universities' fossil-fuel related investments. Environmentally conscious Harvard University students were successful in forcing the institution to remove fossil-fuel-related investments after filing a similar suit recently. According to Reuters, "the students allege violations of the schools' fiduciary duties under their states' Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA)." UPMIFA requires good faith and prudent management of all funds donated to charitable institutions.
Daniel Kurtz, who advises non-profits at law firm Pryor Cashman, said the students' complaints feature a novel interpretation of a charity's obligations under UPMIFA.
"It's a shift from pure market performance to looking at mission-related factors," he said.
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