FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contacts: Prof. Neil Wollman, 260-982-5346,

November 4, 2002 njw@manchester.edu

Jeff Ballinger, 617-851-6832,

Excellent Photo Opportunities jeffreyd@mindspring.com

SHAREHOLDERS, ACTIVISTS DEMAND TIAA-CREF ACCOUNTABILITY

Nation's Largest Pension Fund to Face Protests during Annual Meeting,

Urging Fund to Divest of Destructive Holdings, Invest in Socially Responsible Ventures

Corporate Governance Leader Challenged on Its Own Corporate Governance

What: Demonstration outside TIAA-CREF’s corporate headquarters to urge fund to divest of Philip Morris, Nike, British Petroleum, Unocal , and invest in life-promoting ventures.

When: Thursday, November 7, 11:30 AM- 1:30 PM (held simultaneously with CREF’s annual meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina)

Where:TIAA-CREF, 730 Third Avenue (between 45th and 46th Streets), Manhattan

Why: A coalition of human rights, environmental and corporate accountability advocacy groups will demonstrate against TIAA CREF's investment policies, urging the fund to divest of shares in corporations involved in human rights violations, and public health and environmental degradation, and instead invest in socially responsible ventures.

The nation's largest pension fund, TIAA-CREF, a retirement fund mainly for educators, prides itself on being responsive to shareholders and a "concerned investor" with regard to social responsibility. The reality is that TIAA-CREF holds shares in some of the most controversial and notoriously unethical corporations, including Philip Morris, responsible for Marlboro-the #1 cigarette brand among youth; Nike, widely condemned for its use of sweatshop labor; British Petroleum, which is involved in a socially and environmentally destructive project in Tibet; and Unocal, the oil giant currently being sued for human rights abuses in Burma. At this year’s annual meeting, CREF is also under pressure to improve its corporate governance and transparency via two shareholder resolutions.

The coalition of advocacy groups has been campaigning against TIAA CREF's investment policies for four years and vows to increase their pressure until the pension fund lives up to its own self-proclaimed standards of social responsibility.