Posted on Jan 18, 2005

Nobel Peace Prize winner and key player in the struggle to end apartheid in South Africa, F. W. de Klerk, will be the first speaker in the newly created Presidential Lecture Series at Murray State University. The de Klerk lecture will be held on Thursday, March 10, as the first in a series of events recognizing the occasion of the enrollment of the first African-American students at Murray State 50 years ago. The lecture topic is “Bridging the Gap — Globalization Without Isolation.” The Presidential Lecture Series will feature significant individuals who have impacted world issues or been in the public eye. F.W. de Klerk was unanimously elected president of South Africa in 1989, after serving as National Party leader in Transvaal for seven years and the party’s national leader for seven months. Shortly after his election, de Klerk made a series of announcements that would fundamentally change South Africa, accelerating the elimination of apartheid. He obtained Nelson Mandela’s release from prison and lifted a ban on several organizations, including the African National Congress. He also introduced a set of initiatives that directly led to South Africa’s first-ever universal-franchise election in April 1994, ending in Mandela’s selection as president. In May, de Klerk was appointed as one of two executive deputy presidents in South Africa’s new Government of National Unity under Mandela. The inauguration was the culmination of a process, in which de Klerk played a large part, of negotiation and reconciliation that ended an era, transforming South Africa into a nonracial democracy. For the role he played in that process he was a co-recipient, along with Mandela, of the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize. That same year, he and Mandela were also named Time’s Man of the Year, along with Yitzak Rabin and Yasser Arafat. He has received many other awards and honorary degrees around the world. He resigned his office under Mandela in 1996, a move that was hailed as a step toward normalizing multi-party politics in South Africa. He retired from politics completely in 1997. A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, de Klerk comes from a prominent Afrikaner political family. Afrikaners, descended from Dutch, German, and French Huguenot settlers, constitute approximately 60 percent of South Africa’s white population. His grandfather, father and uncle were all active in national politics. A graduate of Potchefstroom University for Higher Christian Education, de Klerk holds the bachelor of arts and bachelor of law degrees. He practiced law for 11 years before becoming involved in politics. His early political seats include stints in Parliament and on the South African Cabinet. Praised for his efforts in negotiating and implementing South Africa’s new policies of nonracial democracy, de Klerk continued his peacemaking endeavors by creating The F.W. de Klerk Foundation, dedicated to the promotion of peace in multi-communal societies. The lecture will be held at 7 p.m. in Lovett Auditorium on MSU’s campus. The Murray State University Student Government Association (SGA) is sponsoring de Klerk’s visit along with the Presidential Lecture Series. Tickets to the lecture will be available on Monday, Jan. 24, for MSU students, faculty and staff at no charge. Each student or member of the faculty or staff is limited to one free ticket only that must be picked up in the SGA office in advance. Students, faculty or staff wishing to purchase additional tickets must wait until the remaining tickets go on sale for the general public on Jan. 31. Ticket prices are $10 each. Tickets may be purchased in advance, beginning Jan. 31, in the SGA office in the Curris Center or by calling (270) 762-6951 and using a credit card. Tickets will only be sold the night of the lecture if any are still available.