SASC--Circulates Divestiture Petitions

Members of the Southern Africa Solidarity Committee (SASC) began canvassing all Harvard undergraduates last night to encourage them to picket Massachusetts Hall this afternoon and to sign petitions urging the Harvard and Radcliffe Corporations to divest of their holdings in corporations and banks operating in South Africa.

Peter W. Sacks '79-3, a member of SASC, said the demonstration at Mass Hall this afternoon will protest the Corporation's lack of progress on the question of divestiture as shown in its progress report issued on Monday. The report "backed away" from the question of Harvard's financial holdings in banks loaning to South Africa, Sacks said.

Although the primary goal of the canvassing is to gain signatures for the two petitions, SASC also hopes to "educate" students on Harvard's links to South Africa and build up their "mass base," Sacks said.

Both petitions criticize the role many U.S. corporations play in supporting the South African government and say that "virtually every black leader and anti-apartheid organization in South Africa...demands that all U.S. corporations leave the country."

The petition that will go to the Harvard Corporation says that because of Harvard's "prestige and influence" its divestiture "would contribute significantly to the mounting pressure on U.S. corporations to withdraw, thus helping to expedite the end of apartheid and the beginning of majority rule in South Africa."

The Radcliffe divestiture petition says "Radcliffe can have a special appreciation for the importance of speaking out against oppression of all forms" because of "women's historical experience with sexism and Radcliffe's role in fighting discrimination."

It is important for "Radcliffe to assert its distinctness, both to the Harvard community and to Radcliffe students who are increasingly unclear as to Radcliffe's separate identity," the petition reads.

SASC members hope to talk to every undergraduate by Christmas vacation, Guy Molyneux '81, SASC member and organizer of the canvassing drive, said last night. "We expect to have from 4000 to 4500 students sign one of the two petitions," Molyneux said.

In their canvassing drive SASC members will hand out their flier "Harvard and South Africa" and take a "low-key" approach in clearing up any misunderstandings students may have and in encouraging them to sign the petitions, Molyneux said.

Although SASC has not yet set up a program, a student in each of the graduate schools will be in charge of coordinating canvassing activities for that school, Molyneux said