African Activist Archive

Report to members of the Committee for Responsible Investment to an Organizational Meeting on Sunday, April 28 in the Healy Program Room on the campus of Georgetown University. The report says last Friday we pulled off our biggest and most successful event since the Committee was formed following Two Weeks of Anti-Apartheid Action in April, 1984; we had 4 undergrads and 2 law students speak about the current situation in South Africa and Georgetown's role in the struggle against apartheid, more importantly, we had 100-150 students demonstrate vocally against apartheid for a full hour; then, about 30 students presented a petition of 600 signatures calling on the University to divest to the Committee on Investments and Social Responsibility which was meeting at that time. The report says what did we accomplish? The report says first, we established ourselves as a presence on campus in the mind of the student body; we took the initiative on the issue and presented ourselves as actively taking the issue to the administration, instead of responding to their moves; second, we demonstrated to the administration that we have broad-based student support on this issue, not just the noise of a few radicals; we demonstrated that we are working actively with the students from the Law Center; third, we learned more about how to plan an event of this nature. The report says looking to the future, there are still a few things that we can and should do this semester and many possibilities for next year; the Board of Directors will be meeting again in May; we should be prepared in advance to take the issue to them, or to the Main Campus Affairs Committee; if they refuse to meet with us we can give them a show of our support. The report says we can also lobby on Capitol Hill;; minor sanctions are being proposed in a variety of bills; we must get them passed; the legislation is very mild, but it is a step forward; a defeat would be a set-back for our own efforts and for the morale of those struggling within South Africa. The report says by the fall, we will know exactly where we stand with the Administration and the Board and can deal with them directly; secondly, we can continue to politically educate the student body on the issues of apartheid and university divestment; thirdly, we can work to expand our committee. We presently have members from NAACP, African Studies, Progressive Students, and the Black Student Alliance. The report says we can also discuss a possible change of name for the Committee; ''The Committee for Responsible Investment" is not particularly catchy or memorable and connotes interest in any sort of investments, which we are not; likewise, it does not say anything about the struggle against apartheid, and suggests that divestment is our only tactic, instead of a multi-faceted approach to the issue.

African Activist Archive

[To all members; Last Friday we pulled off our biggest and most successful event since the Committee was formed following Two Weeks of Anti-Apartheid Action in. April, 1984.]

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