New Media
Services Director
... p. 15
m GUILFORDIAN m
Vol. 72, No. 3
Guilford Divests From South Africa!!
by Holly Fairbairn
By now, it is old news
that the Guilford College
Board of Trustees has
divested of holdings in cor
porations who do business
in South Africa. The deci
sion was made on Friday,
the 25th of September,
( x .••" —
A South African speaks out
following the Thursday
night college-wide forum
on Guilford's policy con
cerning South Africa.
Sesquicentennial Overview
by Sarah Clymer
Sesquicentennial. Even if
you can't pronounce it, you
know that it;s happening,
and that it's important.
What you may not know is
how extensive the celebra
tion of Guilford's 150 th
year is. The events plann
ed span a 15-month period
and are designed to reach
several different groups of
Guilford supporters, such
as alumni, Quaker friends,
students, and faculty.
To ensure its success,
preparations were begun
early. Two years ago, a
group of over fifty people
began brainstorming and
planning for the event.
They gathered early to
answer three vital ques
tions : first, whether or not
they should celebrate the
Sesquicentennial at all
(they decided yes, by the
Guilford College, Greensboro, N.C.
To better understand
how this and other deci
sions are made by the
Trustees, it is important to
know what the Board is,
what responsibilities they
have, and how they fit into
the community.
In a graciously-granted
Saturday morning inter
view, President Rogers
explained some of the con
cerns of the Board,
way), second, what the ob
jectives of the celebration
should be, and third, in
what manner the celebra
tion should be carried out.
In answering the second
question, the committee
I I
Clara jo Pleasants
I'liolo: Nicole (iaynion
Rugby Begins Practice
... p. 14
especially in relation to
the recent divestment.
The Board of Trustees
oversees the financial
management of the Col
lege's endowment. They
are legally and fiduciarily
responsible for seeing that
the most returns are made
for Guilford's money.
"They are liable for the
financial management of
the College's endowment
and their duty is taken
seriously," says Rogers.
Because income from the
endowment fund provides
for about 10% of the col
lege's operating budget
each year, their job is an
important one. (Think
"tuition increase" and you
will understand.) Since
President Rogers has been
at Guilford, the endow
ment has seen growth
from 6 million to 20 million
dollars. Their dedication
shows in this and other
ways.
Serious deliberations on
our holdings in South
came up with five objec
tives that they thought the
Sesquincentennial should
fulfill.
The first objective is to
make the Sesquincenten
nial a celebration. Ms.
Clarajo Pleasants, the
dynamic event-planner
whom the college has
hired to organize the
event, wants to uphold this
objective. She says, "We
want to make a to-do and
have fanfare. We don't do
as Quakers traditionally
do and be very low-key,
but we'll do it with excite
ment and enthusiasm."
The second objective is
to reunite Guilford sup
porters nationwide. Ms.
Pleasants points out that
these supporters are "not
just alumns, but friends of
Guilford (who) have
(Con't. on pg. 8)
Loyalty Fund
Phone-a-thon
• • Pi 4
Africa began in
September, 1985 when the
Board of Finance created
a subcommittee to check
the moral and social
responsibility of opera
tions. In February, 1986,
they approved a set of
guidelines for taking a pro
active role and maintain
ing investments in South
Africa. This was based on
the Sullivan Principles of
Leon Sullivan, a pastor
and member of the
General Motors Board of
Trustees. He set a two
year deadline for com
panies to take an active,
positive role in the hiring,
training, and designation
of proper salary scales for
Blacks. Guilford agreed to
these guidelines and set to
the task of monitoring the
activities of the corpora
tions in which we were in
vested. Five corporations
were dropped from our
portfolio immediately
when they did not sign the
Sullivan Principles. It was
Alcohol Forum
by M. Paige Long
There were two things
that indicated that the
editor of the Guilfordian
was right about the need of
another alcohol forum.
One was the number of
stuents, faculty, and ad
ministration that showed
MB
Ernest McCoy responds to questions.
I'hoto: Eric Buck
October 2, 1987
also at this time that a
scholarship was establish
ed for South African
students to be able to study
at Guilford.
Obviously, since that
time, much has changed
concerning South Africa.
Most notably, Leon
Sullivan retracted his own
Principles in June, 1987.
Many institutions like
Guilford have divested. In
South Africa, the political
and economic situation
further destabilized. The
elections in May seemed to
reinforce the Botha
regime, which showed no
real signs of gradually
abolishing apartheid as
had been promised.
Violence intensified.
Bishop Desmond Tutu and
other respected Black
leaders spoke out in favor
of divestment.
It was a group of
students —yes ,
students—who deliberate
ly and seriously proposed
(Con't. on pg. 2)
up (there was about a hun
dred) . The second was the
emotion the students
showed and the
seriousness that was taken
concerning the policy.
President Bill Rogers
was the first of four
(Con't. on pg. 6)