Yesterday, the University of California became the latest--and, as measured by the number of students in its system, the largest--educational institution to divest from companies doing business in Sudan. The university system's regents voted unanimously to divest of nine companies in various portfolios held by the university. These nine companies, all of which have equity invested in Sudan and two-thirds of which are involved in Sudan's oil industry, were "clearly shown to be providing monetary or military support to the government, while showing little or no interest in the situation in Darfur or in helping to improve the welfare of the Sudanese people," a statement by the Regents said.

Full divestment of these nine companies will take place over an 18-month period, beginning only after California's legislature has passed a bill that would free individual Regents and the university system as a whole for any liability resulting from divestment.

The Regents declined to divest of all companies in the system's portfolio with Sudan ties. Instead, they pledged to engage in continued dialogue with some companies whose presence in Sudan the Regents believe can benefit the Sudanese people as well as or instead of benefiting Sudan's government. A policy of limited divestment appears to be a trend in university divestments from Sudan: Harvard, Stanford and Yale have also adopted limited divestment strategies.

A new bill, mandating divestment by CalPERS and CalSTRS from Sudan, has been introduced in California's legislature. A similar bill was introduced last year, but was edited before passage, changing a divestment requirement to a recommendation.