8 climate change activists arrested at Vanguard headquarters in suburban Philadelphia

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

Climate activists from the activist group EQAT staged a protest at Vanguard headquarters in Malvern, Montgomery County. (9/21/22) courtesy of EQAT.

September 23, 2022 | 3:19 PM

Eight climate activists were arrested Wednesday at the Montgomery County headquarters of Vanguard, one of the largest mutual fund investment firms.

Members of the Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT) and Extinction Rebellion Philly say Vanguard should be using more of its economic muscle to actively disinvest in companies contributing to global warming, including Big Oil producers like Exxon and Chevron.

The company manages more than $8 trillion in assets, and according to EQAT, has more than $300 billion invested in fossil fuels.

EQAT says it has sought a meeting with Vanguard’s Global Head of Investment Stewardship John Galloway for more than a year, only to be ignored.

“We can’t keep waiting for years,” EQAT member Eileen Flanagan told WHYY. “Vanguard has many levers it could use to move us away from climate catastrophe.”

The local campaign is part of a larger global effort called S.O.S Vanguard, which aims to wean Vanguard off fossil fuels more quickly and emphasize the financial risks involved in continued investments in companies that produce oil, gas, and coal.

“We know that as the largest investor in companies like Exxon and Chevron, Vanguard has a major responsibility for pushing the fossil fuel industry away from climate destruction,” said Dana Robinson, an EQAT member who was arrested as part of Wednesday’s action. “Instead, its voting record on shareholder resolutions shows it is not truly looking out for its own clients, let alone future generations.”

Climate activists with the Earth Quaker Action Team protest Vanguard’s fossil fuel investments at their headquarters in Malvern. Eight people who sought to meet with an executive were arrested after refusing to leave and were charged with misdemeanor defiant trespass. (Courtesy of Earth Quaker Action Team)

Robinson and seven other activists were arrested by the Tredyffrin Township Police and charged with defiant trespass, a misdemeanor. The others were Nancy Sleator, Jean Van Orman, Johannah Cordon Hill, Judy Winters, Walter Hjelt Sullivan, Eric Moss, and Richard Cole.

Flanagan says the next step is to take its message to Vanguard CEO Tim Buckley and hold a Quaker Meeting, or worship, in front of his house.

Quakers, or the Religious Society of Friends, have a commitment to “speaking truth to power” and recognizing that everyone has the ability to change, Flanagan said.

“We call this ‘coming under the weight,’” she said. “We don’t see evidence that they are ‘coming under the weight’ of the seriousness of climate change. We’re going to pray in front of [Buckley’s] house for him to ‘come under the weight’ of this. We are called to challenge the role corporations are playing in the destruction of our planet.”

Vanguard did not return requests for comment.