In my senior year at Harvard, I was invited to a dinner in honor of the writer Margaret Atwood, the recipient of the 2014 Harvard Arts Medal. On my way out the door I lingered, shrugged on my coat, took a deep breath and walked up to the university’s president at the time, Drew Gilpin Faust. We had met twice: once during her office hours and at an ice cream social.

“Please divest from fossil fuels,” I said, hoping to catch her off guard.

The president, at first seemingly happy to see me, rearranged her face. Her shoulders crept up toward her ears.

“You students don’t understand investments,” she said. Then she walked out of the room.

I have benefited immeasurably from Harvard’s investments in me. But recognizing where some of Harvard’s $40 billion endowment is invested was a cause of growing unease for me and some of my classmates. Students at other campuses were similarly concerned about the endowments of their schools.

Figuring out exactly how much of Harvard’s endowment is invested in oil, gas and coal companies is a near-impossible task. Harvard is required to disclose only direct investments in which the university owns shares of a specific company.