USC Will Divest S. Africa Ties in Phased Program

USC trustees decided unanimously Wednesday to adopt a moderate policy gradually phasing out investments in companies doing business in South Africa, leaving some students still angry and others willing to go along.

Under the university’s Committee on Investments and Social Responsibility recommendation approved by the trustees, USC will limit its investments in corporations dealing with South Africa to those making “a visible commitment to ending apartheid.”

The board agreed to begin in 1988 a phased, deliberate divestment from firms that have failed to do so.

The principal test will be the Sullivan Principles, a code of corporate conduct devised by the Rev. Leon Sullivan of Philadelphia to measure efforts to ease the lives of blacks in South Africa.

Although the Student Senate voted 16 to 10 against the proposal two weeks ago, its president said Wednesday that the body intends to “stand behind the board.” Wally Bobkiewicz said he met with USC President James Zumberge and Trustee Raymond Watt before the meeting to urge that they not accept the committee recommendation.

He said students were happy at least that the policy “leaves the door open so that if the circumstances get worse in South Africa or the university feels it needs to make a change in policy, there are mechanisms in place to allow that change to happen.”

Still talking about further possible protest, however, was the Black Student Union, several of whose members joined a group calling itself Concerned Students to hold a Tuesday overnight sit-in at Bovard Hall, where the trustees met Wednesday. The students had university permission for the demonstration.

Patrice McKinley, 19, Black Student Union president, said her group feels that the policy adopted by the board does nothing to help abolish apartheid. “This is not a black-white issue,” she said. “It’s a human issue. . . .”

The 12-member Committee on Investments and Social Responsibility, composed of faculty, students, alumni and administrators, will continue to monitor the South Africa situation and advise the trustees.

Under the new policy, the university will not invest in or do business with any bank that makes new loans to the South African government. It will use its proxy voting power to press corporations to work for the end of apartheid.

Lyn Hutton, USC’s senior vice president of administration and a member of the advisory committee, previously estimated that as of June 30, USC had a little more than $25 million invested in 65 companies with ties to South Africa.

She said that is roughly 10.4% of USC’s endowment pool.