University officials plan to rescind a policy prohibiting investments in companies that do business in South Africa.
The Board of Trustees' executive committee agreed earlier this month to recommend a reversal of the University's 1986 policy on divestment. The full board will vote on the issue in February.
"In view of the reforms [in South Africa], it seems to me that the country needs economic encouragement," said John Chandler, chair of the board. "It has suffered from the withdrawal of capital."
In December, South Africa's white-dominated parliament approved a constitution guaranteeing blacks and whites equal rights. The move formally ended more than four decades of apartheid, the practice of governing by race, and 300 years of white domination.
The University's committee on socially responsible investment recommended to President Nan Keohane that the policy be reversed, but advised the administration to continue overseeing the investments, said Elizabeth Rapaport, associate professor of public policy studies and chair of the committee.
If an organization such as the South African Council of Churches were to flag a company that was not respecting equality among races, the University should consider divesting from it, Rapaport said.
However, the future role of Rapaport's committee is unclear, Chandler said.
"We have tried to take our lead from the democratic forces in South Africa," Rapaport said. "Since Nelson Mandela was calling for [an end to divestment], it didn't seem very appropriate to maintain the ban."
Mandela, president of the African National Congress, demanded an end to his country's economic isolation in a speech before the United Nations last fall. President Clinton also called on states, counties and cities to move quickly to lift their sanctions.
In 1986, Duke's Board of Trustees voted 21-3 following years of controversy to divest from buying stocks in companies with holdings in South Africa. At the time, the University had about $12.5 million invested in 10 such companies.
On campus, students championed complete divestment and denounced apartheid by building mock jails on the Bryan Center walkway and erecting shanties by the Cambridge Inn.
Despite considerable criticism, Keohane supported selective divestment during her tenure as president of Wellesley College. The college evaluated the companies on an individual basis, retaining investments only in companies meeting the college's standards.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.