Marx's activist involvement in South Africa began during his college years, a time when apartheid in South Africa assumed center stage in international politics. "While I was in college, the most pressing issue was South Africa," he said. "South Africa was the quintessential example of institutionalized racism in the world."
Marx also shared that college students sought to end the United States' condoning of apartheid by applying indirect pressure on American companies that held shares in South African government. "I was taken in by that movement," he said. "I am very proud to say that."
While working in public education at the University of Pennsylvania, Marx decided to visit South Africa and witness the turmoil of South Africa first-hand. "I'm not sure I would advertise this to you, but it changed my life," he said. Marx emphasized the impact the trip to Africa had on him. "I remember-I will remember it until I die-that first trip to Africa," he said.
Marx joined a leading non-government educational organization and was assigned the task of founding a secondary school whose purpose would be to "bridge the gap" between white and black students. Due to the severe inequities of the education system for black students in the primary and secondary schools, black students were unable to meet the academic qualifications necessary for university admissions. For Marx, this proved to be the opportunity of a lifetime. "It was an invitation to meet anyone or everyone, not in taking, but to help," he said. "I could build something that everyone wanted to build but were unsure how to build."
By the end of his year-long stay in Africa, Marx and his colleagues succeeded in putting together a 10-page founding proposal for Khanya College. With the document and several million dollars that major American and European foundations allocated to Khanya's creation, Marx helped found Khanya College and enabled 1,000 students to attend college. "I felt that I made a difference, and if that inspires you, it's OK by me," he said.
Marx shared some of the countless lessons he learned from his experiences in South Africa. "One was the lesson that students changed the world. Another was that even students deprived of quality education by a purposefully terrible education system could make huge leaps with a year of education and then compete with kids who received the most privileged education," he said. "The third lesson is not to assume that something is impossible that really is not."
Marx still draws on these lessons today in his position as president of the College. He plans to make the College more accessible to disadvantaged students. "Amherst College can attract even more disadvantaged students with talents and find them and send them off to be leaders," he said.
Marx noted that a college must create a welcoming campus environment for its students in addition to a diverse student body. Marx cited coeducation, the admission of black students to the College and financial aid as moves on the part of the College that, as Marx said, "struck people as deeply revolutionary."
The College, Marx assured his audience, is currently taking measures to achieve these goals. The Mandela Foundation recently asked Marx to allow Mandela Scholars to study at the College. The College would be the first institution in the United States to accept Mandela Scholars. Discussions concerning the details of this program are currently in progress.
Educate!, an organization that raises money to provide refugees in Uganda with a secondary education, medical care and other necessities sponsored Marx's talk. Eric Glustrom '07, the founder and leader of Educate!, found Marx's speech relevant to Educate!'s mission. "It was amazing to hear the president of Amherst speak so passionately about the very issue for which Educate! works: education in the Third World," said Glustrom.
Hyowoun Jyung '08 also found Marx's talk inspiring. "Just knowing that we have such a supportive president pushes me to further challenge myself to go out and take on an issue that I feel passionate about," she said. "President Marx reassured me, and many others I'm sure, that my dreams, though very challenging, are not impossible."
Other shared their amazement about Marx's experiences before the College. "I don't think most students at Amherst are aware of President Marx's unique background prior to his current role in academia, and I think most students at the lecture, myself included, had known very little of the specifics of his work in South Africa," said Hilary Palevsky '07. "Knowing that our President is so dedicated to equal-opportunity education is very inspiring."