South Africa Committee Urges Sale of Bank Stock

The Southern Africa Solidarity Committee (SASC) last night passed a proposal urging the Harvard Corporation to sell all of its stock in commercial banks that extend loans to the South African government.

According to the University's 1976 Treasurer's Report, the corporation owns stocks worth $597,082 in Manufacturers Hanover Corp., which has loaned money to the South African government.

The SASC also urged the corporation to support stockholder resolutions that call for companies in which it owns stock to curtail operations in Southern Africa. The corporation abstained on such a resolution for Manufacturers Hanover in April.

Moderation

The SASC rejected other proposals that would have urged the corporation to sell all of its stock in companies investing in Southern Africa. The sale of stock in commercial banks only would be largely symbolic, since the value of such stock is small in relation to the corporation's whole portfolio, the SASC's proposal said.

The corporation will probably refer the SASC's resolution to the Advisory Committee on Social Responsibility, possibly with an immediate rejection of any stock sale, Luther M. Ragin Jr. '76, an SASC member who drafted the proposal, said yesterday.