Princeton Reverses Course on Fossil Fuel Divestment

Princeton has reversed its stance on fossil fuel investments, saying that its long-term goal of a net-zero endowment may include engaging with energy companies that “will necessarily play a significant role in the clean-energy transition we want for our nation and for the Earth.” Vincent Tuohey, president of the Princeton University Investment Co. (Princo), announced the change in a June 1 letter to the University community.  

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Vincent Tuohey

M. Kruter/Fotobuddy

The letter also announced Princo’s goal to achieve a net-zero endowment portfolio by 2046, the year Princeton has targeted for reaching net zero in campus greenhouse gas emissions. A committee of experts will work to measure the endowment’s greenhouse gas impact, Tuohey wrote. The University did not say who would be part of the committee.  

Divestment from fossil fuel stocks, a cause championed by students and alumni for nearly a decade, gained formal footing in May 2021 when the Board of Trustees began a process to dissociate from companies active in the thermal coal and tar sands segments of the fossil fuel industry. Dissociation, according to the University, includes divesting from direct and indirect holdings of a company as well as reevaluating purchases, partnerships, and employer recruitment activities. 

In September 2022, Princeton’s trustees announced dissociation from 90 companies and asked Princo to take steps to make its portfolio net-zero over time. The same announcement said that Princo would “eliminate all holdings in publicly traded fossil fuel companies … [and] ensure that the endowment does not benefit from any future exposure to those companies.” 

Andrew Golden, Princo’s president at the time, confirmed in a November 2023 interview with PAW that the divestment process was completed in the year following the dissociation announcement. “If the University community says that this is a moral obligation that we have, we should do it, even if it costs money,” Golden said. “In other words, our principles should not be for sale.”  

Tuohey, who succeeded Golden in July 2024, said in his letter that the divestment from publicly traded fossil fuel companies was a voluntary choice by Princo.  

“It’s not obvious that Princo’s initial approach has moved the endowment meaningfully closer to net-zero, nor is it obvious that major energy companies will be out of bounds for a net-zero endowment,” he wrote. 

Tuohey said that the new approach to fossil fuel investments will provide “greater flexibility in managing an endowment whose resources are critical for financial aid and scientific research — including climate research — at a time when our sector is under financial strain.” President Christopher Eisgruber ’83, in his February 2026 State of the University letter, cited declining long-term rates of return in university endowments as a key factor in budget cuts and operational changes at Princeton. 

“I believe our revised approach toward a net-zero endowment will enhance both the resources available to faculty and students and our potential to positively contribute to a more sustainable climate and environment,” Tuohey wrote. 

The Princo announcement is not the first change of direction Princeton has made since announcing its September 2022 dissociation vote. Dissociation originally included a ban on accepting any research funding from a list of companies that has grown from 90 to more than 1,700, as of January 2026. But in October 2024, the University opened the possibility of accepting support for “research projects aimed toward the amelioration of the environmental harms of carbon emissions,” among other guidelines.  

Historically, Princeton has set a high bar for dissociating or divesting endowment funds. The Resources Committee of the Council of the Princeton University Community sends recommendations to the trustees after reviewing proposals using three primary criteria: considerable, thoughtful, and sustained interest on campus involving the actions of a company or companies; direct and serious contradiction with a University value; and consensus on how the University should respond. Successful divestment campaigns of the past were related to apartheid in South Africa and genocide in Darfur. 

When the University announced Princo’s divestment from publicly traded fossil fuel companies in 2022, climate advocates widely lauded the move. But some alumni questioned the wisdom of abandoning investments in the industry while continuing to at least partially rely on fossil fuels to support campus utilities and other everyday activities such as travel.