Browse Cases

Showing 1-6 of 6 results

Harvard University community campaigns for divestment from apartheid South Africa, 1977-1989

Country
United States
Time period
1977 to 1989
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Anjali Cadambi, 19/09/2010

In the late 70s and 80s, American colleges and universities were engulfed in a heated debate over the ethical implications of financial investments. Educational institutions had invested billions of dollars in financial institutions and corporations with holdings in South Africa. Since the mid 1900s, the South African Nationalist government had implemented apartheid – a form of institutionalized racial segregation that had forced over a million South Africans to move out of urban spaces to designated rural areas. Many saw U.S.

University of Wisconsin students win divestment from apartheid South Africa, 1969-1978

Country
United States
Time period
March, 1969 to March, 1978
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Elowyn Corby 06/01/2011

Madison Wisconsin was one of the first communities in the United States to recognize apartheid in South Africa as a serious and international issue that could potentially be addressed in part through American activism and solidarity. The University of Wisconsin-Madison was a focal point for this activism, due to the dedication and engagement of its students and professors.

Columbia University students win divestment from apartheid South Africa, United States, 1985

Country
United States
Time period
8 April, 1985 to 25 April, 1985
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Kelly Schoolmeester, 07/02/2010

On April 4, 1985, seven students at Columbia University, members of the Coalition for a Free South Africa (CFSA), chained closed the doors to Columbia’s administrative building, Hamilton Hall, and sat on the steps, blockading the entrance. They were there to protest the University’s investments in corporations that operated in Apartheid South Africa. Soon after, a march coordinated by other members of CFSA passed by Hamilton Hall. When the marchers saw the small blockade on the steps, they rushed to join in.

Mills College students win divestment from South African apartheid government, 1984-1988

Country
United States
Time period
November, 1984 to August, 1988
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Olivia Ensign, 07/02/2009

The Dutch and British colonization of South Africa in the 17th and 18th centuries brought a system of segregation to the region that remained in place well into the twentieth century. From 1948 to 1994 this took the form of apartheid, a system of legal racial segregation that ensured the continued rule of the country by the white minority.

University of Toronto students win divestment from apartheid South Africa, 1984-1990

Country
Canada
Time period
November, 1984 to February 1, 1990
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Alison Roseberry-Polier, 06/02/2011

Beginning in 1983, students and student allies at the University of Toronto began creating the organizational structures needed to pressure the University to divest from South Africa. Students created an Anti-Apartheid Network, or AAN, drawing membership from the Student Christian Movement, the Communist Club, the African and Caribbean Students’ Association, and the New Democratic Party Club. The group had large support among the student body from very early on, but gained no traction with the University administration.

University of California Berkeley students win divestment against apartheid South Africa, 1985

Country
United States
Time period
10 April, 1985 to 23 May, 1985
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Arielle Bernhardt, 05/02/2010

In the spring of 1985, campaigns against apartheid in South Africa mobilized on campuses across the United States. Students at University of California Berkeley became aware of these campaigns and were moved to act. On April 10, two student groups—the UC Divestment Committee and the Campaign Against Apartheid—began organizing daily rallies at Sproul Plaza, a main gathering place on campus. Nancy Skinner led the Divestment Committee and William Nessen headed up the Campaign Against Apartheid, but the student coalition made decisions through the consensus of all members.