Black Colleges Slow To Divest From Sudan Smaller Endowments Often Limit Options, School Officials Say
By Michelle S. Keller
Tribune staff reporter
April 25, 2007
Though the movement to divest from Sudan has swept U.S. colleges and universities, historically black colleges have remained on the sidelines of the issue -- until recently.
In recent months, Hampton and Howard Universities divested fully from companies that do business with the African nation, where violence has claimed more than 200,000 lives in the Darfur region.
The decision by two of the nation's most well-known black universities was widely applauded. But their late entrance into the divestment movement, which began at Harvard University in 2004, raises questions about why historically black colleges have been slow to respond to what the U.S. government has deemed genocide in Darfur.
"It unfortunately has not been on the radar screen for many," said Hampton President William R. Harvey. Hampton started the divestment process in July.
African-Americans traditionally have been a reliable lobby for humanitarian and political causes in Africa. But some alumni and university officials say most of the colleges are less likely to divest because they have smaller endowments than their white counterparts.
"Howard University can afford to do it because its endowment is among leading endowments in the country," said Ron Walters, professor of political science at the University of Maryland in College Park. Walters helped spearhead the U.S. anti-apartheid movement in the late 1970s.
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