University to cut exchanges with S.A. universities

Press, 3 July 1986, Page 2

University to cut exchanges with S.A. universities

The University of Canterbury Council has decided to restrict official exchanges between university staff and South African universities. The council, at its monthly meeting yesterday, decided to discourage university-ap-proved exchanges “except where these contribute to the ending of apartheid or have no possible role in promoting it.” Any future proposals by staff to visit South Africa for study or research, or proposals by South African academics to visit the University of Canterbury, will have to be approved by the council. Staff members wishing to visit South Africa will have to convince the council that their work

will in no way promote apartheid. The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bert Brownlie, said the council would have no control over staff members once they were in South Africa, if a visit was approved. If a staff member did in some way show approval of apartheld while in South Africa on an official basis, the council "may have to look at another sanction,” he said.

The Pro-Chancellor, Mr Richard Bowron, said that the council was being “somewhat selective” by trying to discourage visits to South Africa but not acting on visits to other countries with policies it disapproved of. “I wonder whether by actively discouraging con-

tacts we are really fulfilling our function as a university — that is, seeking knowledge impartially,” he said. Ms Diana Shand, a human rights commissioner, said the proposal had been discussed at length by the professorial board, and a lot of thought had gone into it. If the council adopted the resolution it would not then have to treat other countries it disapproved of in the same way. “In the course of my work I have been involved in looking at the effects of these sorts of sanctions,” she said. “While there is considerable debate about their effectiveness, there is a time for a concerted effort to take some action.”