Board members upheld the College's policy to retain stock held in U.S. corporations involved in South Africa. They stressed an adherence to the Sullivan Principles, which mandated equal treatment of black and white employees of American companies in South Africa. Faculty, staff and student representatives, on the other hand, contended that the Sullivan Principles would not significantly affect South African society, and that the best policy would be to divest.
While the meeting was going on in the Octagon, more than 200 people outside silently engaged in a peaceful demonstration organized by the SASC in opposition to the trustees' stand. Linking their arms, they formed a corridor comprising two lines of people leading up to the Octagon's entrance. The silent protest was the centerpiece of a series of demonstrations supporting divestment that day. According to The Amherst Student, demonstration activities started at 10:30 a.m. that day on the steps of Robert Frost Library, when speakers from nearby colleges and other organizations expressed solidarity with the SASC and supported the movement for divestment.
The chairman of the trustees' investment committee, Theodore Cross '46, later told The Student, "The meeting wasn't very satisfactory." He explained that this meeting was particularly frustrating because the Trustees and the students seemed to be talking at each other, instead of with one another.
A member of the SASC appeared to agree. "In the past, there have been discussions at meetings like this, but they have produced no results. This time it wasn't even a good discussion," he said.