On May 9, 1977, over 900 Stanford students occupied the Old Union administration building to protest Stanford's support of corporations in apartheid South Africa. That night, 294 students refused to leave and were arrested, while hundreds more kept vigil outside. This nonviolent demonstration garnered international media coverage and widespread support, inspiring similar demonstrations at universities all across the U.S. These demonstrations launched the divestment movement which was crucial in undermining the racist South African regime.
The campaign, carried out by the Stanford Committee for a Responsible Investment Policy (SCRIP) was initiated primarily by students living in Columbae House, a cooperative house with a theme of social change through nonviolent action. They connected with other students who had worked on anti-military, affirmative action, labor and other campaigns.
On May 9, 1977, over 900 students
occupied the Old Union administration
building
to protest Stanford's support
of
corporations in apartheid South
Africa.
In Winter Quarter, a student-taught SWOPSI class (see p. 8) researched South African apartheid and Stanford's connections. Based on this research, SCRIP launched a major education effort, walking door-to-door in all the dormitories, distributing leaflets and talking to students. As support grew, they collected over 3,000 student signatures, 80 faculty signatures and support from twenty campus groups, including the United Stanford Employees labor union.
SCRIP tried to meet with the Trustees to point out the Stanford community's growing support for church-sponsored resolutions calling for corporate withdrawal from South Africa. But the Trustees only agreed to abstain from voting.
In the week leading up to the sit-in, over 50 people engaged in a three-day vigil and fast. Five students continued fasting for a week. On the day of the sit-in, several students traveled to the Trustees' meeting, and one, still fasting, was allowed to address the meeting. The Trustees agreed to form a committee to study the issue, but refused to vote for the resolutions. After a great deal of discussion, 294 of the students occupying Old Union decided to stay.
Stories appeared in newspapers across the country and even overseas. This campaign for change was so powerful and inspiring that it helped to create a massive movement for divestment across the country. The students who stayed knew they were risking jail time, cut-off of their financial aid, or even expulsion from Stanford. Still, they had been moved enough by the campaign to risk all this to help bring down the racist South African government. And their efforts eventually paid off. The divestment movement was crucial in ending apartheid.
See http://diso.stanford.edu/diso for full text of this article.