NOM BLOG

College Grad Calls Out Fellow MN Students for "Bullying" 3M Over Political Donations

 

Hundreds of students and staff from Macalester College and Carleton College in Minnesota attended a 3M shareholder meeting in St. Paul to protest 3M's donation to MN Forward, a group that supported Republican candidate Tom Emmer, and their protests took up most of the meeting, according to the Pioneer Press:

"We're not moralizers; we're a company," [3M Chief Executive George] Buckley said. After the sixth or seventh question from the Carleton and Macalester groups, Buckley joked that "I do compliment Macalester College for having 427 students come here and ask this question."

After the meeting, Buckley said he's "kind of a live-and-let-live guy" on social issues and reiterated that the company doesn't get involved there.

... As for the proposal that the groups from Carleton and Macalester were there to support? Shareholders voted down the proposal from Trillium Asset Management Corp. that would have required 3M to give a more detailed reporting of its political contributions each year.

David Hottinger wrote in response to the story about the protest at 3M's stockholder meeting:

Just out of college myself, I think it's safe to assume most undergrads aren't holding too many shares of 3M Co. stock. So I'm a little sickened by the Carlton and Macalester students' actions at 3M's shareholder meeting May 10 ("3M meeting lite," May 11).

It's one thing to disagree with a company's political contributions. But to hijack a company's shareholder meeting in order to let it know that if it donates to a Republican it is going to pay for it until the Republicans cave on gay marriage?

That's not protest; that's bullying.

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