Issue and Opponent: In reaction to South Africa’s apartheid, US colleges, and universities divested from South Africa to put pressure on the government to end the apartheid by hurting their economy. An MIT student group was formed in 1985 called the Coalition Against Apartheid (CAA) to urge the MIT corporation and MIT’s president Paul Gray to divest from South Africa.
Dilemma Action: Most of the CAA’s protests consisted of rallies, meetings, and public statements, however, protests became more elaborate at the beginning of the 1990s. A shanty was erected in the middle of campus and torn down by the police, who also arrested some of the protestors. President Paul Gray stated that he would allow shanty-building protests as long as they were torn down at the end of the day, but the protestors were still not happy. Gray attempted to make the protestors feel as if their demands were being met, but he never succeeded. The CAA never was able to undermine the power of MIT’s administration.
Outcome: Civil meetings between the corporation and CAA occurred, but the corporation refused to divest MIT’s assets in South Africa. The corporation claimed that doing so would hurt blacks in South Africa. MIT never divested its South African assets, and the CAA ceased its widespread protests after 1991.