A Moral Authority

HARVARD-Radcliffe Alumni Against Apartheid (HRAAA) is ready to play hardball with the administration. Two weeks after the Harvard Alumni Association nominated Secretary of Labor Elizabeth Dole, former Democratic National Committee Chair Paul Kirk, and actor John Lithgow for the Board of Overseers, HRAAA responded by backing Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of the world's leading anti-apartheid activists. Now, even the administration's list seems paltry in stature. Dole, Lithgow and Kirk have not won any Nobel Prizes.

Tutu's willingness to run for office, however, indicates something more important--Harvard's policy matters. Tutu believes the University's divestment would send the message that reaping profits from a system of institutional racism is immoral. He also wants to expose the lie that selective divestment policies, such as Harvard's, can be fair and humanitarian.

The Crimson calls on alumni to elect Tutu to the Board of Overseers, in order to ensure that this powerful divestment activist has the opportunity to bring his message to the inner circles of Harvard's decision making process.

HRAAA Director Robert Wolff'54 last week indicated the force Tutu can bring to Harvard's divestment movement. "I look forward with great anticipation to the moment when Derek Bok attempts to explain in front of Archbishop Tutu why it is in Blacks' best interest not to divest," he said. "I think the University's position will crumble at that moment."

DIVESTMENT has been the focus of alumni and student protests for several years, and Tutu has a moral authority with regard to this issue that would grant greater credibility to the divestment movement. His election and the power that he would bring to the pro-divestment faction of overseers may indeed mean that the virtually inactive Board of Overseers will be able to accomplish an important goal.

Some detractors may claim that Tutu should not be elected to the Board because he lives in South Africa and thus will not be able to attend all the Overseers meetings. But the point of his candidacy is in his ability to serve as a powerful advocate for this important issue. He should be elected to serve as a political force on the Board, not as a hands-on overseer serving on several visiting committees and discussing more routine issues of University governance.

Tutu will emphasize the facts: investment in South Africa perpetuates apartheid, and South African Blacks overwhelmingly favor divestment. Even Reverend Leon Sullivan, who created a set of moral principles for businesses that chose to stay in South Africa, now calls for a complete withdrawal of foreign funds. At a time when racial conflict is becoming more violent and bloody, both Tutu and Sullivan advocate the use of every peaceful pressure that can be brought against the South African government.