Tutu Encourages UCLA Protesters, Draws Cheers

South African Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace Prize winner considered the moral conscience of the anti-apartheid movement, told thousands of cheering students at UCLA on Thursday that their demonstrations are bringing needed pressure on the white-minority regime and encouragement to black activists in his homeland.

“Don’t let anyone delude you into believing that what you do today is of little moment,” the black prelate told about 3,000 students at Pauley Pavilion. “Don’t let them say to you and then believe it that it’s merely a matter that doesn’t even embarrass the South African government.

“I want you to know that you are giving very considerable encouragement to the victims of one of the most vicious systems the world has ever known.”

Tutu, 53, arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday with plans to attend his daughter’s graduation at the University of Kentucky and to raise money for victims of apartheid.

In contrast to his quiet visits to California last year, before his Nobel Prize, this trip finds Tutu besieged with requests for public appearances and interviews. His arrival coincided with calls by a growing number of government officials for divestment of stock in companies that deal with South Africa and protests on college campuses across the country.

Wearing his white church collar, a magenta shirt and a large crucifix, Tutu appeared relaxed and comfortable, often joking with his audience. He repeatedly thanked the students, who gave him two standing ovations.

Tutu said the American movement against racial separation in South Africa has the white regime so concerned that it has appointed a full-time official in its Washington embassy to monitor the situation and try to dilute it.

Corporations in South Africa, both local and American, are also feeling the pressure and, for the first time, have presented a list of demands to the government for strong reform, he said.

“That you care sufficiently to jeopardize your chances of getting very good degrees, very good grades--it’s something beautiful to see,” Tutu told the crowd.

He was accompanied on the stage by his wife, Leah, 52, and by student leaders who told him he is an inspiration for their activities. Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley sat in the audience.

University Protests

Hundreds of students across the state have been arrested in protests aimed at getting the University of California to relinquish investments in corporations that do business with South Africa. On Tuesday, Bradley called for sweeping economic sanctions that could remove up to $1 billion in city-controlled assets from banks and business with ties to South Africa.

At a news conference before his UCLA appearance, Tutu repeatedly noted that he could not speak in support of divestment without risking indictment by his government upon his return.

Earlier this year, Tutu said he would give the government two years to make sweeping changes before publicly campaigning for divestment.

He said, however, that he is “thrilled” by the demonstrations, which he said are “giving notice” to President Reagan that many Americans disagree with his South African policy. And he assailed critics who claim that divestment will economically hurt blacks in his country: “I would much rather I live in control of my destiny than I live in clover.”

He said he believes that the so-called Sullivan Principles, a voluntary code that asks business to improve living conditions for blacks, have improved conditions for some blacks. He said the code, however, is simply “making apartheid slightly more comfortable,” not dismantling it.

Pressure Cited

“That is why I myself reject the Sullivan Code, and I have told (Rev. Leon) Sullivan that I think he is in fact being used,” Tutu said. “You must remember that code came into being as a result of the pressure that was building up as the movement for divestment gained momentum. And it came as a way of helping employers.

“After all,” he added, “all that code is doing is asking employers to be good employers, so I don’t think they need to be patted too much on the backs.”

Asked if the movement to end apartheid could eventually lead to a communist government in South Africa, Tutu smiled and replied that the question reminded him of the anti-communist crusade of the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

Tutu said that because communism is “atheistic,” it will never satisfy the “deep longings of the African psyche.” But he said the possibility of a communist government will grow as apartheid continues and as “liberation forces” continue to find that they can get financial support only from Eastern European countries.

Thursday night, Tutu addressed a crowd of more than 400 people who overflowed the small sanctuary of Ward A.M.E. Church in Central Los Angeles.

He had come, he said, “To say ‘Thank you’ on behalf of his people . . . thank you for belonging to this extraordinary fellowship, the human family.”

“God did not create us for slavery,” he continued. “God did not create us to have our noses rubbed in the dirt every day. God did not create us so that we could be doormats . . . God created us to be able to stand upright and hold our heads high.

“And we thank you, sisters and brothers, that you have reminded the world that, yes, we belong together and that we can be human only together.”

Tutu met privately with an unidentified university official Thursday and plans to meet with corporate leaders before returning to South Africa next week. Bradley will hold a private reception for him today.

Tutu is scheduled to address a joint session of the California Legislature on Monday.

The California Democratic Council, a grass-roots organization of liberal activists, sponsored his trip. Council officials said Tutu expects to raise $80,000.

Times staff writer Leonard Greenwood contributed to this article.