The anti-apartheid movement at Grand Valley State College in West Michigan

Abstract

Abstract The history of the anti-apartheid movement at Michigan’s public universities tends to focus on MSU in Lansing, UM in Ann Arbor, and WMU in Kalamazoo. The anti-apartheid movement outside of these and a few less-well-known cases remains largely unknown. Drawing on a small selection of archival documents, this essay explores the history of the anti-apartheid movement at Grand Valley State College in West Michigan, a region presently most well known for its conservative politics. This surprising microhistory includes contributions from two important South Africans, Allan Boesak and Ben Khoapa, dedicated organizing by students on campus, and a series of articles published in the student newspaper, The Lanthorn.