University of Illinois graduates will be less desirable candidates in the energy sector if the university divests from fossil fuels. 

The University of Illinois has already announced a divestment plan from fossil fuels, which could very well warrant retribution from the sector, yet none has arrived. Furthermore, the University of Illinois’ programs in business, science, math, and engineering are some of the strongest in the world. Universities with other top programs, such as UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Georgetown, have put into place divestment policies, but they are still top ranked schools in the nation, with divestment leaving no noticeable impact on their national prestige.

The University of Illinois’ divestments from fossil fuels will not have a negative impact on the fossil fuel industry.

This is untrue. The corporate bonds the University of Illinois System holds in fossil fuel companies provide an avenue for fossil fuel companies to raise corporate debt to finance their operations. Ending the purchasing of bonds in this sector will decrease the demand for corporate debt in this sector, which in turn will impact the amount of debt eligible to be raised. In tandem, when the University of Illinois Foundation sells its risk assets in this sector, the market-clearing price will decrease, driving down the market capitalization of the company. Technical economics aside, a core tenant of divesting from an industry is to remove the social license of that industry. By pulling investments out of the fossil fuel industry, the University of Illinois is taking a stance against the heavy polluters that overly contribute to climate change.

Without investments in fossil fuels, the University of Illinois will no longer have the opportunity to be advocating shareholders.

The fossil fuel industry has known about the climate crisis for decades and has refused to take action, even with shareholder advocacy. The University of Illinois can continue to attempt to use shareholder power to have minuscule impacts on the fossil fuel companies' operations, or they can choose to no longer be complicit in the climate crisis by removing themselves from this destructive industry.

Divesting from the fossil fuel industry will allow actors with the intent to expand the fossil fuel industry to gain more shares.

This argument misses the point of fossil fuel divestment: It is up to the University of Illinois to actively make decisions to fight climate change, and refusing to divest from fossil fuels is a non-active approach.