Almost two years of spirited campaigning by student leaders and activists finally paid off yesterday.
The Ohio University administration released a statement supporting products made without the use of “conflict minerals.”
The statement came at the behest of student groups such as Bobcats for a Conflict-Free Campus and Student Senate. It is a promising sign that the university’s administration is willing to respond to groups asking for social justice, though some groups who don’t have the support of student government are often overlooked.
Yesterday’s statement is a step toward ending a practice that creates violence for economic reasons. It is also a step that the university should have taken sooner.
The statement did not come until after two resolutions by Student Senate (the first in October 2010) and a third by Graduate Student Senate, as well as a statement from OU’s Honors Tutorial College.
Despite the delay in administrative response, the university’s statement is certainly a positive action and one that needed to be taken in response to a justifiably voiced cause.
However, it is only a single step in a process that will take years.
The statement notes that “conflict-free” products are not widely available yet and that OU will monitor its purchasing processes in the future to determine whether buying those products is feasible.
“Given the current circumstances, we are making a best-effort commitment to favor the procurement of verifiably Congo-sourced conflict-free products,” the statement reads. “We welcome suppliers who belong to the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC), a global organization devoted to improving social and environmental conditions in electronics supply chains.”
If the first positive came from OU’s willingness to hear out entities outside of student government, the second will surely come from its “best effort” to follow through on its promise, one whose significance might be difficult to measure right now.
It is not likely that this single statement will make a difference in the supply chains of electronics manufacturers, but we applaud Ohio University for joining Oberlin College and Ohio State University as the only schools in the state that have made similar commitments.
The real work will begin when conflict-free products are readily available from more manufacturers. We hope the university sticks to its pledge and weighs the value of social justice when considering future purchases.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
