CAN HARVARD REDEEM ITS DIVESTMENT DELAY IN SOUTH AFRICA ?
Some argue that Harvard suffered a stain on its legacy by not moving decisively to divest from South Africa In the anti-apartheid era. In the late 70s and 80s Harvard seemed mired in philosophical debate over whether or not it should withhold funds from Pretoria. Many Harvard students and faculty at that time were in favor of full divestment, but had to settle for “partial” divestment because of then university President Derek Bok’s argument that the free world would best help to change apartheid by speaking out as shareholders in corporations that did business with the racially-biased country. This time, the consortium believes, Harvard must be “on the right side of history” and make whole its human rights legacy.
