Amherst College Honors Nelson Mandela

“We are all South Africans now.” —Nelson Mandela, May 12, 2005

On May 12, 2005, before a standing-room-only crowd of students, faculty and friends of Amherst College in Saint Bartholomew's Church in Manhattan, former South African president Nelson Mandela challenged the United States to "work toward correcting the inequities in the public schools." Amherst College awarded honorary doctoral degrees to Mandela and his wife Graça Machel, the former minister of education in Mozambique. Watch Nelson Mandela’s speech, and the ceremony in which Mandela is awarded the honorary degree.

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Transcript, Photos and Stories

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Mandela holding diploma

This event was sponsored in part by the Victor S. Johnson Lectureship Fund.

Photo: Samuel Masinter ’04

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