The University Finance Office, in coordination with the Wesleyan Committee for Investor Responsibility (CIR), has announced that it will invest $500,000 in local community banks. The investment is reportedly part of a larger effort by the CIR to make more socially responsible investment choices.

According to a press release from the CIR, the University is preparing to renew two six-month Certificates of Deposit (CDs), which total $500,000, in Middletown’s own Liberty Bank and the Community’s Bank of Bridgeport. The money, which came from the University’s General Operating Account, will be divided equally between the two banks.

The CIR investment proposal drafted on Nov. 30, 2011, suggests community investment as one of the easiest ways that the University can provide support to the surrounding area, which is defined as everything that falls within a 25-mile radius of the University.

“Community investment is the fastest growing area of socially responsible investment in the United States,” the press release reads.

Liberty Bank and the Community’s Bank of Bridgeport have been chosen by the CIR as the two local banks that are most committed to serving disadvantaged communities. First Bank of Greenwich and Connecticut Bank and Trust Company were also considered for investment.

According to the press release, Liberty Bank was chosen because of its consistent support for the surrounding community where many University students volunteer. The Community’s Bank of Bridgeport was chosen because it is the only bank in Connecticut that is minority-owned and certified by the U.S. Treasury Department as a Community Development Financial Institution.

“I am very excited about the community investments made by the Finance Office,” wrote CIR member Corey Guilmette ’13 in an email to The Argus. “Right now, these investments are relatively small compared to the size of the General Operating Account. However, they represent a very solid foundation for expansion. I hope that these investments will be the first step in a broader shift in University practices to consider social issues when making investments.”

According to the CIR’s website, before this investment was finalized, it was officially approved by the Socially Responsible Investment Coalition and the Wesleyan Student Assembly.

The CIR hopes to expand its investments in the future, possibly by investing in different asset classes and other areas that will impact the community.