Can of Worms

Yours truly has blogged recently about the fossil fuel divestment issue.  A bit of Googling suggests that the Regents are opening a can of worms here which could ultimately damage the university.  Apart from the financial issues, there is a general question of how much the university wants to be dragged into an ongoing political controversy.  The university's action - which so far amount to no more than creating a subcommittee to look at the topic - has already attracted conservative media (negative) attention:
http://calwatchdog.com/2014/05/30/column-uc-regents-urged-to-divest-in-fossil-fuels/
The fossil fuel divestment issue has also become a concern of certain Jewish groups that fear that oil/coal/gas divestment will lead to anti-Israel divestment:
http://m.forward.com/articles/198655/jewish-groups-push-back-in-fight-for-divestment-fr/
Related: http://www.jewishjournal.com/cover_story/article/battleground_california_how_ucla_became_the_epicenter_of_the_campus_battle
Whether UC needs to be in the middle of such debates is something the Regents need to consider.