Committee Didn't Discuss Divestment

To the Editors of The Crimson:

I appreciated the opportunity to talk with Michelle Hoffman, a Crimson reporter, on Sunday evening. Her article, published in The Crimson the next day, described the Midyear Report of the Corporation Committee on Shareholder Responsibility (CCSR).

For the most part, the article was accurate and informative. However, I noted that some of the questions attributed to me were misleading. Divestment had not been a subject that we discussed, nor had I expressed the Committee's likely response to recent events in South Africa. In fact, I stated that I was not in a position to describe the views of either committee.

What I had indicated was that both the CCSR and the Advisory Committee on Shareholder Responsibility (ACSR), as they voted shareholder proposals related to South Africa this spring, would pay close attention to these events, including, among other things, the progress of talks at Codesa (Convention for a Democratic South Africa) and Nelson Mandela's call for renewed U.S. investment in South Africa once an interim government is in place.

I also indicated that over the years, Harvard's policy with regard to South Africa has been shaped by the work of both committees in response to changing events in that country, and that continued positive developments in South Africa would undoubtedly affect the committees' views regarding current policy. Cheryl Thurman   Assistant Secretary Committees on Shareholder Responsibility