ILLINOIS - The University of Illinois Board of Trustees

19783 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 37
The three coalition members indicated that they could not $peak for the coali-
tion and that they would respond to my twofold Suggestion that they ( 1 ) appear
before the Finance Committee and (2) indicate to me (in keeping with board
policy) “the nature of the subject matter to be presented.” There was also some
discussion of location for such a presentation with the coalition members expressing
the hope that the hearing be on the Urhana-Champaign campus - a hope which I
find understandable.
On September 6 the enclosed letter from the coalition arrived in my ofice in
Urbana while I was in Chicago. Subsequently, I talked with Steven Nadel, a mem-
ber of the coalition, by phone and indicated that I found the letter not to reflect
the tenor of the August 31 meeting- a meeting which Mr. Nadel had not attended.
I suggested that I assumed that the coalition wished a hearing before the board
rather than vice versu. I did indicate that I would simply forward the letter from
the coalition to the board and that the board could then respond as it saw fit.
Following this telephone conversation, it was agreed that Mr. Nadel and two
other members of the coalition would meet with me on September 11 to review
this “request for an appearance” before the Finance Committee. I asked Earl
Porter to join this meeting. I again stressed the points that it was the coalition
rather than the board which wanted a hearing; that board policy provides that it
is the board which establishes conditions for board hearings; and that a hearing
is not a debate. I also made some gratuitous comments about my personal reaction
to the words “demand” and “must.”
It was agreed that I would place before the board this request from the coali-
tion for a hearing and indicate that the members of the coalition with whom I have
spoken seek a change in our investment policy to provide that the University divest
its portfolio of all stocks in corporations doing business in South Africa. The coali-
tion will want to demonstrate the inadequacies of the present policy and of any
adjustments in that policy short of a divestiture policy. The coalition would hope
that the hearing would be held on the Urbana-Champaign campus and after learn-
ing of the conditions and procedures which the board adopts for such a hearing, the
coalition would decide if it wished to participate.
If it is the conclusion of the board that a hearing is appropriate, I would sug-
gest that it not be held in conjunction with a board meeting, that sufficient lead
time be provided so that representatives of various views could be alerted to the
hearing, that fairly rigorous time limits for presentations be established and fol-
lowed, and that debates or discussions among those testifying not be a feature of
the hearing. To the extent that the views of those wishing to be heard can be deter-
mined in advance, presentations might be scheduled to permit differing views to be
alternated. I have stated several times that I did not view a hearing as a debate
between the board and members of the audience, and I assume that I am not mis-
representing you in that statement.
I have indicated to the members of the coalition that I would forward to them
some response from the board following the September 20 meeting of the board.
For your information, I am attaching copies of present board policy concerning
appearances before the board and of the policy adopted last year concerning the
exercise of proxies at annual meetings of corporations doing business in South
Africa.
C-U Coalition against Apartheid
Room 284 Illini Union
Dear President Corbally:
The C-UCAA wishes to inform you of our acceptance of a hearing before
the Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees, concerning divestment of
University holdings in corporations doing business in South Africa.
Our acceptance is contingent upon the following conditions: