The leftist faculty at New Mexico’s largest university (UNM) are agitating for the school to “divest” itself from fossil fuels. RGF has PLENTY of issues with UNM, but we’ll just leave the following comments from a 2017 interview with the former president of the school Chaouki Abdallah, “UNM has these spires of excellence, best in the world or top five, but like everything else around this state, the average is bad because you have to make sure everyone is taken care of.”
“Our higher ed spending is more than most other states; the trouble is we don’t spend it wisely and (we) spread it across so many entities. We do need a plan.”
While divesting from oil and gas is more symbol than substance, what if New Mexico’s oil and gas revenues were “divested” from UNM? According to a report from the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, UNM (just main campus) received $205,157,300 in FY 20 with the oil and gas industry providing about 1/3rd of that or $68,727,696.
Set aside all the ways in which UNM works to both directly (divestment) and indirectly (global warming hysteria and left wing indoctrination) undermine its largest source of revenue, New Mexico’s higher education system needs serious reform.
This article doesn’t seem very well thought through, your point stands but doesn’t inherently make an argument clear. Am I hoping that oil and gas goes away so UNM doesn’t waste funds?
That’s one way to look at it. I’d like to see UNM be better and use oil and gas money to actually be a center of excellence. I think the bigger consideration is whether the Industry is really something that New Mexico’s institutions should really be distancing themselves from.
Personally, I think UNM could spend their money more wisely. Look at how the golf courses are run. You have the Championship Course (one of the finest in the state) and the North Course, under the supervision of the UNM bookstore!! What qualifies them to know how to run it like a business? They run a huge deficit every year because of this type of idiocy.
There are more attractive, less risky long term growth opportunities for the UNM Foundation to invest in than fossil fuels. As for revenues, oil and gas via state funds accounted for 8.2% of main campus and 3.4% of total UNM income last year. UNM must start planning for replacing these sources as the global energy transition unfolds away from fossil fuels. The bigger issue is climate change-driven aridifaction and water scarcity, which will hamper growth in other industries in New Mexico and enrollment.
You may believe that the university should get out of fossil fuels, but IF the University is going to invest its funds, it is simply not the role of the faculty to tell the professional investors what to do.
I suspect that the overall numbers in terms of university funding are much higher, but if you are sincere about this viewpoint, yes, serious planning is going to be needed.