Leaflet issued as part of a campaign to get Harvard University to divest from companies doing business in South Africa. The leaflet is a reprint of "Board of Overseers Lobbying One's Own," an editorial in February 11, 1988 issue of The Harvard Crimson. The editorial says two of President Bok's right-hand men-Vice President and General Counsel Daniel Steiner '54 and Secretary to the Governing Boards Robert Shenton-went to several cities to pressure Overseers to seek non-confrontational, "informal" channels for expressing their discontent about campus unionization, tenure battles, and the University's failure to divest. The editorial describes this as an attempt to sway overseers from voting to...
Leaflet issued as part of a campaign to get Harvard University to divest from companies doing business in South Africa. The leaflet is a reprint of "Board of Overseers Lobbying One's Own," an editorial in February 11, 1988 issue of The Harvard Crimson. The editorial says two of President Bok's right-hand men-Vice President and General Counsel Daniel Steiner '54 and Secretary to the Governing Boards Robert Shenton-went to several cities to pressure Overseers to seek non-confrontational, "informal" channels for expressing their discontent about campus unionization, tenure battles, and the University's failure to divest. The editorial describes this as an attempt to sway overseers from voting to recommend that Harvard divest of its holdings related to South Africa. Two years ago, President Bok blatantly tried to influence the Overseer election by asking Overseer head Joan T. Bok (no relation) to write to all alumni criticizing the campaigns of three pro-divestment candidate. Last year, the University fielded an unusually strong slate of Overseer candidates in order to prevent the Harvard-Radcliffe Alumni Against Apartheid from winning more seats. The victory of three pro-divestment candidates in the last two years should have told Bok and the Harvard Corporation that the issue of divestment will not disappear, and that activism on the Board will grow unless such issues are addressed.
