The Bryn Mawr and Haverford Bi-College News (Friday,October 1,1993)

BMC Board Will Reconsider South African Investment Policy

By Marcela Musgrove
News Editor

Last Friday African National Congress president Nelson Mandela went before the United Nations to ask that economic sanctions be lifted in South Africa in light of the actions that have been taken there to end apartheid. In accordance with this request, Bryn Mawr’s Board of Trustees is meeting this weekend to decide whether funds should be reinvested in South Africa.

Bryn Mawr President Mary Patterson McPherson met with the faculty, Staff Association, Self-Government Association, and students from South Africa this week to answer questions and gather opinions about whether to change the policy.

In the late 1970s Bryn Mawr, along with many other colleges and universities, church groups, and state and local governments became active in the movement to bring about change in the apartheid policies in South Africa. In the mid 1980s, the college’s Board of Trustees decided to limit Bryn Mawr’s investmens in corporations with affiliates in South Africa to those that followed the Sulllivan Principles, a set of principles for social responsibility and conduct for American companies in South Africa developed by Reverend Leon Sullivan. The companies’ conformity to these principles were evaluated annually and reported widely by the A.D.Little Company. By the spring of 1987, seeing that progress was not being made toward breaking down the structures of apartheid, the Trustees decided to sell all remaining shares in their portfolios of companies with direct investments in South Africa. For more than six years, the Collge has maintained this policy of divestment.

In the meantime, the Committee on Investment Responsibility, on behalf of the Trustees, has been keeping close watch over the situation in South Africa by reading published reports, subscribing to the services of the Investor Responsibility Center, belonging to the Research Consortium on American Corporate Activity in South Africa, and by staying in touch with colleagues at surrounding colleges and universities. Last year, the Committee acknowledged some progress between the government, the African National Congress, and others and expressed the hopes that conditions might be improving, in which case it might propose changing the College’s investment policy. The Trustees concurred that the time was not yet right.

However, things finally appear to be changing. After many talks, it has finally been agreed on to hold free elections, where blacks will be allowed to vote for the first time. In addition to Mandela’s appeal to the UN and the International Monetary Fund to lift sanctions and loan South Africa money to help rebuild the economy, a broad effort is being made by the representatives of South Africa across the political spectrum to convince those state and local governments which have policies of divestment to revoke those policies.

South African students who met with President McPherson to discuss the issues expressed mixed opinions. Some expressed caution, feeling that the situation was still very fragile. One student expressed concern that there was no clear road map about what direction the country would take after the election. She also worried that companies would come in pursuit of profits without taking any social responsibility or trying to improve South Africa’s economy.

Lebohang Chanza, a senior, agreed that the future was still uncertain for South Africa, but still advocated consideration of reinvestment. She pointed out that the new government would need capital to work with and that employment would boost morale which is currently low as well as give people more faith in the negotiations with the ANC.

As soon as the issue was brought up to be reconsidered, President McPherson called President Kessinger to let him know of the decision. Haverford also plans to bring up the question of reinvestment to its Board of Managers in the near future. Although Haverford’s decision will be totally independent of Bryn Mawr’s, Kessinger commented, “In our own ways, we’re moving on the same path as Bryn Mawr.”

copyright 1993,all rights reserved


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