Is anyone going to college to learn anymore or is it all just about activism?

The Yale Daily News reports.

Students demand private prison divestment

A fledgling group of Yale undergraduates is demanding that the University divest from for-profit prisons — the latest attempt by students to use the endowment as a tool for social justice.

Founded last semester, Yale Students for Prison Divestment — a branch of the Yale Undergraduate Prison Project — wrote an open letter to the University administration and Yale Corporation over the weekend highlighting the injustices committed by private prisons and outlining the ways in which continued investment in the industry does not align with Yale’s ethical investment principles. The letter claims that private prison facilities have limited government oversight, are free to offer substandard living environments, and are especially susceptible to corruption. According to the YUPP website, the number of inmates in private prison facilities is nearly 130,000 nationally.

The letter had over 289 signatures from undergraduates, graduate and professional students by press time Monday night. Although students who signed the letter said they would be willing to take more direct action, such as protests or sit-ins, to push Yale to divest, the fate of YSPD remains murky as it follows in the footsteps of groups like Fossil Free Yale that have unsuccessfully demanded divestment.