(RNS) — Princeton Theological Seminary students and alumni have called on the educational institution’s leaders to oust the chair of its trustee board because of his ties to a company that charges high fees for inmates to communicate with people outside prison walls.“We, the undersigned students and alumni of Princeton Theological Seminary, demand the immediate removal of Michael Fisch from the Board of Trustees, as well as the adoption of deliberate and transparent policies on appointing and maintaining board members who reflect the anti-slavery theological commitments of the seminary,” reads their letter to President Jonathan Lee Walton and the board of trustees.
The March 14 letter was released by Worth Rises, an organization focused on “dismantling the prison industry,” and included more than 300 signatures.
Fisch is a founder of American Securities, a private equity company that owns ViaPath, a large prison telecommunications company. Such companies, the letter writers say, “charge as much as $15 per 15-minute phone call, essentially monopolizing commissions extracted from impoverished families and captive consumers.”
A spokesperson for American Securities, which also owns household appliance companies, declined to comment when asked …
Princeton Theological Seminary students, alumni seek ouster of trustee chair
