University Statement on Nelson Mandela

We remember Nelson Mandela today as a world leader and an example of a great man who overcame adversity to lead a divided South Africa from its apartheid era to democracy. He is seen universally as a symbol of reconciliation. Nelson Mandela touched people around the world, including our students, who were arrested in the mid-1980s for protesting outside the South African embassy. A tribute to their activism still stands today on our campus in Kogan Plaza, where students etched "Free Mandela" in a sidewalk slab in 1985. Just as they were then, our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the people of South Africa.