Af-Am Professors Reflect on Mandela’s Legacy at Harvard

In light of anti-apartheid activist and political dissident Nelson Mandela’s death last week, faculty members in the African and African American Studies Department said that Harvard should honor Mandela’s legacy and strengthen its commitment to reduce inequality.

“It is a responsibility that is required of us not only to train leaders intellectually and in terms of leadership skills, but also to equip them with a high sense of ethics and not to see a disjunction between scholarship and integrity,” said professor of history and African and African American studies Emmanuel Akyeampong. “And in that we would be following in the spirit of Mandela.”

Susan E. Cook, executive director of the Committee on African Studies said Harvard’s relationship with Mandela dates back as far as the 1970s, when Mandela was in prison due to his anti-apartheid activities. At the time, in 1979, then-University President Derek C. Bok established the South African Fellowship Program.

Through the program, the Committee on African Studies offers around six fellowships per year to South Africans deemed educationally disadvantaged under apartheid laws so that they can study at a school at Harvard. Cook said that over 200 South Africans have benefitted from the program since its inception.

In 1998, the University awarded Mandela, who served as the first black South African president, a special honorary degree. Mandela is one of 13 people in University history to receive a special honorary degree awarded outside the normal Commencement exercises.

Professors said that Mandela’s death should inspire Harvard to continue his fight for civil rights.

“I think Mandela has left us a huge challenge to recuperate a liberal democratic politics that makes sense, a world in which one can agree to argue sensibly and arrive at reasonable outcomes, a world in which one seeks to understand one’s opponents and to figure out how to deal with difference,” said John L. Comaroff, a professor of African and African American studies and anthropology.

He added that Harvard should “commit itself to the greatest degree possible to fight racism, sexism, inequality and injustice, not merely in words but by actions and deeds, substantively and not merely procedurally.”

African and African American Studies Department Chair Lawrence D. Bobo and professor Jacob K. Olupona agreed on the importance of promoting civil rights.

“[Mandela] is a towering figure in South African history, a powerful symbol for all Africans, and indeed an inspiring colossus on the world stage for all humanity,” Bobo said in an email to The Crimson. “Like so many others, I mourn his passing but shall forever celebrate his life and example.”

Olupona added that, on top of advancing equality around the world, Mandela’s struggle for equal rights should inspire Harvard to be more mindful of its minority students and faculty.

—Staff Writer Francesca Annicchiarico can be reached at francesca.annicchiarico@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @FRAnnicchiarico.