Students of Madison Lead the American Anti-Apartheid Movement: Madison Area Committee on Southern Africa

Though UW-Madison has had protests and civic engagement throughout its history, the era that gave UW-Madison its reputation as a “protest school” began in the 1960s. Anti-Apartheid activism influenced politics in Madison long before the American Anti-Apartheid Movement gained momentum in the 1980s, becoming one of the first communities in the United States to recognize apartheid as a critical issue that required American activism and solidarity.