The Rev. Leon Sullivan, a renowned leader in the movement against apartheid in Africa and founder of the Sullivan Principles, has asked Ohio State to consider taking a stand in extending the principles globally.

The Global Sullivan Principles of Corporate Social Responsibility were announced at the United Nations in New York on Nov. 2, 1999.

The objectives of the global principles are:

• To support economic, social and political justice by companies where they conduct their business;

• To support human rights and to encourage equal opportunity at all levels of employment (including racial and gender diversity);

• To train and advance disadvantaged workers for technical, supervisory and management opportunities;

• To assist with greater tolerance and understanding among peoples;

• To improve the quality of life for communities, workers and children with dignity and equality.

During a visit to OSU in November, Sullivan discussed the global principles with OSU President William “Brit” Kirwan. There is expected to be a continuance of their discussion with other university leaders in New York next month.

“I am very pleased and proud that Rev. Sullivan came to Ohio State and asked us to be a leader in the discussion of the Sullivan Principles within higher education,” Kirwan said.

Sullivan has had an appreciation of OSU ever since he was growing up in West Virginia. At that time, blacks, who attended the University of West Virginia, were given the chance by OSU to study with the university in the summer.

“Rev. Sullivan has a great love of our institution,” said Mac Stewart, interim vice provost for Minority Affairs.

Stewart has worked closely with Sullivan for the past 10 years.

In 1971, Sullivan became the first black member on the board of directors at General Motors. He sat on the board for only two months, when he asked General Motors to leave South Africa. After a visit to South Africa in 1975, Sullivan became determined to end the injustice that existed. After returning to the United States, Sullivan presented a sermon at his church in Philadelphia entitled “The Walls Must Come Down.” It was during that sermon that Sullivan showed the congregation what he called “Principles of Equal Rights for United States Firms in the Republic of South Africa,” which became the Sullivan Principles. After two years of strenuous work, 12 of the most prominent U.S. companies, including General Motors, adopted the original Sullivan Principles.

OSU signed the original Sullivan Principles developed in the late ’70s, which helped to improve industrial race relations and assisted in extinguishing the apartheid that existed in Africa.

The original Sullivan Principles include:

• No segregation of races in all eating, comfort and work facilities;

• Equal and fair employment practices for all employees;

• Equal pay for all employees doing equal or comparable work for the same period of time;

• Training programs for blacks and other non-whites for supervisory, administrative, clerical and technical positions;

• Increasing the number of blacks and non-whites in management and supervisory positions;

• Improve housing, transportation, school, recreation and health issues.

At the urging of Sullivan, OSU has begun investigating apparel corporations they do business with such as Nike, LA Gear and Champion, said Janet Ashe, vice president for Business and Finance.

“We found things in each factory that we would like to improve,” said Rick VanBrimmer, director of Trademark and Licensing Services, who is involved in the investigation of 13 factories in seven countries.

The Global Sullivan Principles is “an excellent place to start,” VanBrimmer said. “We want to make a change, and that is the bottom line.”

Other universities who are investigating their apparel corporations are Notre Dame, Harvard and the University of California.