Carleton Political Action Committee

The Carleton Political Action Committee (CPAC) advocated that Carleton College divest from companies operating in South Africa, beginning with a moratorium on buying any new stocks in such companies. In January, 1978, the Committee delivered to the Board of Trustees a petition supporting this action signed by 1,223 students, faculty, and staff. In response, the Trustees reactivated the Committee on Social Responsibility in Investment and established a South Africa Study Group, on which at least two student members of CPAC served during the summer of 1978. The Committee sought to educate the community about South Africa for over a year. In the fall of 1978, South African editor Donald Woods advocated total divestment in a speech on the Carleton campus, and candlelight vigils were held at the home of the college president. A referendum conducted that fall showed a majority of student and faculty respondents supported divestment. More than 200 students rallied outside the Board of Trustees October meeting, and the Board adopted a policy of selective divestment, based largely on the Sullivan Principles, which defined the college’s policy for many years. (Sources: “Carleton Moves Confidently Into Its Second Century, 1966-1992,” by Merrill E. Jarchow and articles in The Carletonian student newspaper.)